MONTREAL—Employment in Canada’s retail sector will hit a 12-year low this year as companies adopt technology and trim costs in response to weak growth in consumer spending, says a new report released Tuesday. The Conference Board of Canada says the total number of jobs in grocery, clothing, department, home improvement, furniture and appliance stores will fall to 1.26 million in 2016, a decrease of 2.6 per cent from last year and the lowest it has been since 2004. The Ottawa-based think tank said the growth of online shopping and self-checkout terminals is helping retailers reduce labour costs to face slow sales growth. The changes reduce the need for as many employees to handle customer payments and to set up displays and restock shelves, said Michael Burt, head of the Conference Board’s industrial economics trends group. The Conference Board said fragile consumer confidence — weighed down by record levels of consumer debt — will continue to weigh on retail spending.

Source: thestar November 22, 2016 20:19 UTC