A monthly survey found that hiring by U.S. discount, grocery, restaurant and specialty chains rose in November to its highest level of the year, signaling that retailers may be anticipating a gradual recovery in consumer spending, Bloomberg reported.

In November, 3.87 percent of applications resulted in hires, the most this year according to seasonally adjusted figures compiled by software maker Kronos Inc. Job applications last month fell to 1.27 million, the lowest since March, after 10 straight months of increases, the company said today in a statement.

Though these are classic signs of a gradual, post-recession recovery, last month’s hiring increase might be a “spillover” from October, as retailers delayed the peak season for taking on employees, Robert Yerex, Kronos’s chief economist, told Bloomberg.

Retailers “weren’t sure how good or bad this year would be,” Yerex said. “There’s still a little bit of shell shock from 2007 and 2008, when retailers were caught with a lot of people on staff, a lot of product inventory, but a difficult time selling it.”

Kronos’s analysis covers 68 companies with 27,034 stores in the United States. The company makes software that businesses use to process hiring, payroll and scheduling, and manage employees. Chains that use Kronos products account for about 15 percent of U.S. retail jobs, according to the company.