Business Briefs: Chain Store Sales, Planned Job Cuts, Payroll To Population Report

Chain stores are reporting mostly stronger rates of year-on-year sales growth in November than October, pointing to a gain for the ex-auto ex-gas reading of the monthly retail sales report. Nevertheless, the strong 0.6 percent gain for this reading in October will be tough to match.


Challenger's layoff count fell to 35,940 in November vs 51,183 in October and 45,314 in November last year. Announcements were heaviest in consumer products followed by health care and industrial goods.


The November Payroll to Population employment rate was 44.2 percent, comparable to October's rate of 44.4 percent. At the same time, unemployment remained at a four year low of 6.2 percent and workforce participation also held steady at 66.9 percent. The percentage of Americans employed full time for an employer has consistently registered at about this level each November since Gallup began tracking P2P in 2010.

P2P is not seasonally adjusted. However, because of seasonal fluctuations, year-over-year comparisons are often helpful in evaluating whether monthly changes are attributable to seasonal hiring patterns or true growth (or deterioration) in the percentage of people working full time for an employer. The P2P rate in November 2014 is on par with that seen in prior years, down from an earlier high of 45.2 percent in July 2014 but essentially even with previous November rates.

Workforce participation among adults was steady at 66.9 percent, unchanged from 66.6 percent in October. The workforce participation rate has ranged narrowly between lows of 65.8 percent and highs of 68.5 percent since January 2010.

Gallup's U.S. unemployment rate represents the percentage of adults in the workforce who did not have any paid work in the past seven days, for an employer or themselves, and who were actively looking for and available to work. Gallup's unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.2 percent in November and continues to be the lowest unemployment rate observed since Gallup began tracking it in January 2010.