Houston leads nation in retail job gains

HOUSTON – Houston is leading the nation for retail jobs added since the recession, a new analysis shows. Between July 2007 and July 2012, Houston added 18,900 retail jobs, according to a Business Journals’ On Numbers analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That ranks Houston No. 1 by a wide margin — New York is No. 2 with 9,300 retail jobs added during the five-year period.

Houston also experienced a large increase in percentage terms, with a gain of 7.24 percent. That ranked the metro area No. 2, just behind Raleigh, N.C., which experienced a 7.6 percent gain.

Out of the 102 metro areas in the analysis, only 14 have more retail jobs now than they did five years ago, while 13 are at least 10,000 retail jobs below their 2007 levels.