Stores Tackle Challenge of Hiring for Holidays

From the Tennessean: "David Penn, director of Middle Tennessee State University's Business and Economic Research Center, sees local retail job growth of 0.8 percent for this year's first three quarters compared with a 1.9 percent average last year as a sign that retailers will add fewer jobs. 'We'll see a seasonal increase like we always do, but perhaps not as big of a seasonal increase like we've seen in the past years because households were spending less already in the third quarter,' he said, citing high gas prices and consumers taking less equity out of homes. 'With less spending, you don't need so many retail workers out on the floor or at the cash register.'"