As a general rule, holiday workers claimed residency while here and claimed the tax-free threshold.
FedEx, for example, hired 20,000 holiday workers to deal with extra e-commerce purchases, an 18 percent leap from 2010, while U.P.S. hired 55,000 workers, an increase of 10 percent.
Even with a turbulent economy, leading retailers say they expect to hire more, or at least as many, holiday workers as last year.
Earlier this year, the retailer said it was dismissing some store employees, but a vast majority of those were temporary holiday workers that it no longer needed after Christmas.
J. C. Penney said it would hire 35,000 people, up from 30,000, while Target, which hired 92,000 holiday workers last year, expects that number to be slightly higher this year.
There was a rich mix of holiday workers like myself, sometimes overindulging, sometimes enjoying the snow, and just having a good time in general.
The traditional holiday workers -- young people, homemakers and retirees -- are passing on the seasonal jobs available in the nation's malls.
The study said two in five of New York's retail workers were full-time, slightly more than half were part-time, and the rest were temporary or holiday workers.
The issue will loom particularly large on Friday, because the report for July is annually adjusted by a larger amount than for any other month save January, when holiday workers lose their jobs.
LONDON – As most of Britain shuts down for the Easter holiday, workers at the Financial Services Authority will be busily putting the final touches to the largest overhaul of the country's financial regulation in more than a decade.
