Retail Industry Profile

Retail is the second-largest industry in the United States both in number of establishments and number of employees. The U.S. retail industry generates $3.8 trillion in retail sales annually ($4.2 trillion if food service sales are included), approximately $11,993 per capita. The retail sector is also one of the largest worldwide.

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer and the world's largest company with more than $312 billion (USD) in sales annually. Wal-Mart employs 1.3 million associates in the United States and more than 400,000 internationally. The second largest retailer in the world is France's Carrefour.

• Top Retailers Rankings

Retail trade accounts for about 12.4 percent of all business establishments in the United States. Single-store businesses account for over 95 percent of all U.S. retailers, but generate less than 50 percent of all retail store sales. Gross margin typically runs between 31 and 33 percent of sales for the industry but varies widely by segment.

Retail Employment: The retail industry accounts for about 11.6 percent of U.S. employment. Annual retail employment averaged 15.3 million people in 2005. Retail unemployment was 5.4 percent compared to 5.1 percent overall. Employment of nonsupervisory workers in retail averaged 13.0 million in 2005. Nonsupervisory retail employees averaged 30.6 hours a week during 2005 with average hourly earnings of $12.36. Ten year employment projections expect retail to increase 11.0 percent, versus 14.8 percent overall.

Plunkett's Retail Industry Almanac
Excellent review of retail industry developments, trends, and companies. Subscription required for most content.

WetFeet
This career information provides good overview, trends and job information on the retail industry.