Climate change to affect US retail worker pay: Fed

Bloomberg

Climate change may lead to large swings in the incomes of US retail workers, according to a new study published by the Federal Reserve.
In the analysis published this month, Fed economist Brigitte Roth Tran suggested that income inequality could increase as retail employees whose pay or hours are tied to sales find their work affected by more volatile weather
patterns. Such workers account for about 10 percent of US employment. Roth Tran found that consumers already shift their shopping between outside and indoor stockists depending on the weather.
“Retail sensitivity to weather can increase income volatility for low-income workers whose hours and wages depend on daily sales activity and whose economic well-being can be negatively affected by unpredictable income,” Roth Tran wrote.
“Understanding how climate change will affect the retail sector is an important component to quantifying and adapting to the effects of climate change and also to understanding its potential implications for economic inequality.”