By Savyata Mishra

(Reuters) - U.S. retailers will hire fewer seasonal workers this holiday season than last year due to a softer labor market and tighter consumer spending heading into the crucial shopping period, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas provided exclusively to Reuters.

Retailers are expected to add 520,000 new jobs in the final quarter of 2024 compared to 564,200 in 2023, according to the firm's analysis of non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"This prediction considers that now, job gains are falling, and consumers have tightened spending ... Seasonal employers will add jobs, but need may fluctuate as the season progresses," said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas which tracks government data and hiring trends.

Holiday sales are expected to grow at their slowest pace in six years, according to data from Deloitte last week, as persistent inflation and depleted savings turn shoppers more frugal.

"One possibility is retailers will be unable to fill positions... The other is that retailers will not have the need for so many workers, particularly if the economy cools faster and consumers decide to shop less this holiday," Challenger added.

The forecast for holiday hires is the lowest since 2022 when retailers added 509,300 seasonal jobs and second-lowest since 2009 when it was 495,800.

Momentum in the labor market has slowed, with U.S. employment rising less than expected in August, according to a Labor Department report.

U.S.-based companies have so far announced 178,350 planned hires for the holiday season, according to the report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The Challenger report does not include all retail companies.

Retailer Target said on Monday it would hire 100,000 seasonal workers, in line with the last three years, to beef up staffing at its stores and supply chain facilities.

Burlington Stores plans to hire 1,500 full-time and 23,000 part-time seasonal workers this holiday season, while Bath & Body Works said it would hire 30,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season, same as 2023.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)