Toys ‘R’ Us Job Carnage Puts Drag on July U.S. Payroll Figures

(Bloomberg) -- The toll of one of the largest U.S. retail failures is evident in July employment statistics, which were dragged down by the collapse of Toys “R” Us.

The Labor Department on Friday cited a loss of 31,800 positions in the “sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores” sector last month, likely related to 33,000 workers being left jobless by the shutdown of the largest U.S. toy retailer.

Toys “R” Us closed the last of its hundreds of U.S. stores at the end of June, leaving employees without severance pay. The retailer had struggled for years with $5 billion in debt from its 2005 buyout, along with new competition from online and discount retailers.

Read more: U.S. payrolls rise 157,000 while wage gains hold

Eight former Toys “R” Us workers traveled to Washington this week to meet with several U.S. senators. They asked the lawmakers to consider measures to prevent a similar scenario in the future, and for help in securing compensation in lieu of the severance they had expected.

Speaking after a meeting with Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, some former Toys “R” Us workers said they'd been unsuccessful in finding new jobs so far, a task made even more difficult after spending the bulk of their career at the big-box retailer.

--With assistance from Scott Lanman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet, Crayton Harrison

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