U.S. Retailers Add 22,000 Jobs in April; South Korea Adds 74,000

U.S. retailers added 22,000 jobs in April, according to preliminary federal data released Friday. The hiring brought total retail industry employment to 15.5 million, the highest level since July 2024. Warehouse clubs and supercenters accounted for much of the increase while department stores and sellers of electronics and appliances reduced payrolls.

Separately, courier and messenger jobs rose by 38,000 in April. These gains contributed to overall job growth that exceeded economists’ expectations. A separate government report showed retailers posted their highest volume of monthly job openings since 2023 in March, a 48 percent increase from the same month a year earlier even as the economy-wide total declined.

A senior economist at the job search platform Indeed said the figures demonstrated continued resilience. “This still shows how resilient spending has been, even amid a lot of the uncertainty,” the economist said. ” The April hiring reversed caution seen in 2025 when many companies cited potential cost pressures from tariff policies.

South Korea added 74,000 jobs in April, the smallest monthly gain in 16 months, according to data from Statistics Korea released Wednesday. The number of employed people stood at 28.96 million, up 74,000 from a year earlier. The jobless rate remained at 2.9 percent with 853,000 people unemployed.

The employment rate for those aged 15 to 29 fell 1.6 percentage points to 43.7 percent. The labor ministry attributed the slower pace mainly to fewer people working in the education sector and a base effect from strong job creation a year ago.

The reports arrive as separate indicators on consumer demand showed mixed signals. ” The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index reached another record low, with survey officials citing rising gasoline prices linked to the war in Iran as one factor.