Though retail sales gains have improved, don’t expect holiday seasonal hiring to reach “pre-recession levels,” a new report indicates.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said retailers, thanks to two consecutive months of sales gains, “could portend stronger seasonal hiring in 2010,” the Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm said today.

“This year we expect to see further gains in seasonal hiring, but it probably will not achieve the levels we saw in 2006 or 2007 when retailers’ holiday payrolls grew by 746,800 and 720,800, respectively,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “There is still a lot of doubt about the sustainability of this economy.”

bjapsen@tribune.com