Shopping Center Jobs

The US shopping center industry gained 4,300 jobs in June, according to International Council of Shopping Centers' benchmark based on Labor Department statistics. Job gains in this sector proved erratic for 2011, with a hefty 25,000-job jump in January followed by a meager 1,000 jobs in February and then a 6,000-job drop in March. A 52,000-job surge in April gave way to a loss of 17,000 positions in May before the moderate rise of 4300 for June. On average the industry posted some 10,000 jobs per month during the first half, equal to the pace of last year’s comparable half. Note that the industry job base hit a cyclical low in December 2009, when it lost 1 million jobs. Since then, 128,000 shopping center jobs have been created, a recovery of nearly 13% from that low...and 87% left to go.