Seasonal hiring offers little reprieve for labor market woes

Plenty of Americans are expected to pour into stores and fill online carts this holiday shopping season. Fewer may be able to pick up seasonal work to support that bonanza. As layoff announcements make waves and the unemployment rate creeps up, the usual holiday hiring spree appears muted this year, with data from multiple sources suggesting that hiring plans may be at their lowest levels in over a decade. Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in its most recent labor report that seasonal hiring plans throug ...