Amazon stumbles on slower sales growth, higher labor costs

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon isn’t just grappling with the easing of pandemic-induced splurges. The online retail behemoth is also contending with surging costs as it navigates a snarled supply chain and labor shortages. Those challenges resulted in Amazon reporting Thursday a shortfall in third-quarter profits and sales. It also delivered a holiday sales forecast that was below Wall Street expectations. The issues are the latest twist that the Seattle-based Amazon has had to confront with since the beginning of the pandemic. Amazon was one of the few retailers that has prospered during the COVID-19 outbreak.