With an economy outside that’s frightful, the unemployed say they’re expecting a less than delightful holiday season.

Danny Alston, manager of the Pitt County office of the N.C. Division of Employment Security, said retailers are relying less on the agency to recruit for seasonal holiday workers than in years past. Many of them already have a surplus pool of applicants.

Overall, Alston said that in recent months, job postings have fluctuated. “(We) definitely haven’t seen any kind of steady improvement so it’s definitely been an up-and-down cycle.”

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