Wal-Mart to create 10,000 U.S. jobs this year

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said it would create about 10,000 jobs in the United States this year, about the same as in previous years, as President-elect Donald Trump puts pressure on companies to hire more U.S. workers.

Most of Wal-Mart’s new jobs will be in 59 new stores planned for the fiscal year beginning in February as well as in e-commerce services, the retailer said on Tuesday. The new stores will also support about 24,000 construction jobs.

The additional retail jobs would represent less than 1 percent of Wal-Mart’s U.S. workforce of about 1.5 million.

U.S. automakers, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and other companies have announced plans to create U.S. jobs. Trump, who takes office on Friday, has repeatedly singled out and criticized U.S. companies across industries for not doing more to keep jobs in the United States.

General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Tuesday that it would invest an additional $1 billion in its U.S. factories and move some production from Mexico.

Wal-Mart said the number of its new jobs would be consistent with previous years. They will be part of a previously announced $6.8 billion capital expenditure plan, which includes construction and remodeling of stores and distribution centers, for the fiscal year starting on Feb. 1.

“Our 2017 plans to grow our business … will have a meaningful impact on the country,” Executive Vice President Dan Bartlett said in a statement.

Wal-Mart also said that by July, it would open 160 training academies, adding to the 40 it already has. More than 225,000 workers will receive up to six weeks of specialty training and graduate from the academies in the coming fiscal year, the company said.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)