US stores boost hiring for holiday shopping season

Washington

US stores and shippers are ramping up holiday hiring to potentially the highest level in 15 years, but no one is sure whether that will be answered by a burst of shopping.

Package shipper FedEx said on Tuesday it would add 50,000 temporary workers for the November-January holiday shopping season, aiming to avoid last year's debacle when it and rival UPS were overwhelmed by the online sales surge, resulting in a huge number of deliveries missing the Dec 25 Christmas target.

UPS earlier said it was adding up to 95,000 holiday workers to meet what all analysts agree will be another banner season for shipper-dependent…