MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – More jobs this year than last year: That’s the headline at several Minnesota department stores that say holiday hiring is already underway.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting a 2.8 percent sales increase over last year, totaling $465 billion in sales.

Macy’s said it plans to hire around 78,000 temporary workers this year. That number is up 4 percent from last year. Likewise, Kohl’s said it seeks to hire 5 percent more employees for the holidays than it did last year, and J.C. Penny said it plans to hire 15 percent more than it did last year.

Target said it hired some 92,000 workers for the holidays last year. This year, they expect that number to be greater.

Thurson Wang, a manager at the Mall of America Sears, said he’s looking to hire a total of 50 employees of the next couple of months. He said many of those he is looking for will fill cashier positions.

“We have a September, October, November and December needs,” he said. “So we have staggered needs as we go through the season. It obviously escalates as we get closer to Thanksgiving.”

Wang said his sales records so far this year indicate things will only get better.

“Everybody’s heard doom and gloom for so long … and I think folks are going to come out and purchase at the end,” he said. “They’re going to treat themselves and their families.”

On the other hand, not every big retailer is hiring more this year. Best Buy, for instance, is cutting its holiday hires in half and choosing instead to give the employees overtime.