Seasonal retail jobs are set to drop to lowest level in 15 years

Retailers are betting they can handle the holiday shopping rush with fewer additional workers .

From Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, retail stores are expected to hire between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers, down from the 442,000 seasonal hires companies brought on last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), a trade organization.

That would mark the lowest level of seasonal retail hiring in 15 years, according to the NRF.

At the same time, the organization expects holiday sales to hit a record, surpassing $1 trillion for the first time as spending rises between 3.7% to 4.2%.

The decline in expected seasonal hiring comes as the broader labor market is showing signs of strain, with some businesses across the nation holding off on adding new workers. At the same time, lay