Retail by the numbers compared to the Great Recession
NEW YORK (AP) - The bad news for retail has been relentless of late. But don't blame it on the economy like during the Great Recession. It has more to do with the ways shoppers have changed since then: Buying more online, and always looking for deals.
Here are a few measures that show the state of retail compared to the Great Recession days:
- STORE CLOSINGS: 2,880 store closings were announced as of April 6, compared to 1,153 stores at the same time in 2016, says Credit Suisse. It believes there could be 8,640 this year, which would surpass the 2008 peak of 6,200 closings.
-BANKRUPTCIES: As of May 4, 19 retail companies had filed for bankruptcy, surpassing the 18 for all of last year. For 2017, the number of bankruptcies is expected to outpace the 42 in 2010, according to Jim Elder, a director in the Risk Services Business at S&P Global Market Intelligence. In 2009, the number of retail bankruptcies hit 511.
-RETAIL JOBS: Stores added 6,000 jobs last month, following a cut of a combined 55,000 jobs in February and March. That was the largest two-month decline since stores cut 62,200 jobs in December 2009. The small increase for April is below their long-term average gain of 15,000 to 20,000, says Goldman Sachs. And it's unusual for retailers to cut jobs outside a recession.
-PRICING POWER: An analysis of government data show that retailers' ability to raise prices is even weaker than during the recession as stores compete with web convenience and contend with shoppers' addiction to finding deals, according to Mike Niemira, chief economist at The Retail Economist LLC.
A study by price research firm Market Track of 150,000 promotions for housewares, clothing, footwear offered in email, on retailers' websites, and in print circulars over the past two years - from April 2015 through April 2017, across 18 retail chains, found that discounts are getting deeper over time. Discounts over the past 12 months were 1.2 percent deeper than the preceding 12 months, on average, according to Market Track.
