“There’s been a shift in consumer spending from things to experiences,” she said, “that’s why restaurants are doing so well.”<br />A version of this article appears in print on April 8, 2017, on Page B2 of the New York edition<br />with the headline: Retail Payrolls Sustain a New Blow as Technology Alters Shopping Habits.<br />Retail Payrolls Sustain a New Blow as Shopping Habits Shift -<br />By PATRICIA COHENAPRIL 7, 2017<br />Doors at many Macy’s, Sears and J. C. Penney stores may still be open, but some of the jobs they once supported are starting to vanish.<br />General merchandise stores shed 34,700 jobs in March, the government announced Friday,<br />the single most disappointing figure in a generally disappointing jobs report.<br />You don’t need as many people walking around trying to convince you to buy a sweater.”<br />The vitality of the retail sector has been muscled out of the spotlight lately by a focus on better-paying manufacturing jobs,<br />which President Trump sees as crucial to the revival of the middle class, particularly in the Midwest and the South.<br />We shop differently now, and no one has the right model.”<br />Most shopping is still done in person rather than online, but shopping patterns are shifting.
