Jobs in shopping centers peaked in six years

US shopping malls have not been as empty for nearly six years.

The vacancy rate for regional and metropolitan shopping centers in the United States reached 8.6% in the last quarter. end of 2012, according to data published Monday by the real estate research company Reis ( REIS ) .

At the time, the economy was still coming out of a recession and an excess of shopping centers had been built in previous decades. Retail vacancies peaked at 9.4% in the middle of 2011.

"We were over-sold," said Barbara Denham, senior economist at Reis. "The recession has kicked out a lot of stores," she said.

Circuit City, the electronics department that went bankrupt in 2008, "has been a big driver of the holidays," she said.

Related: US Shopping Centers Rotting

Today, the growth of online shopping is one of the factors that weigh on traditional retail stores.

While online sales still represent less than one-tenth of total retail sales, they are growing at about 15% per quarter, much faster than traditional store purchases.

The online quarter contributed to the worst quarter in nine years for neighborhood and community shopping centers.

The vacancy rate in the last quarter, at 10.2%, was higher than at shopping centers, in part because of the hundreds of store closures Toys "R" Us.

] Related: 700 Empty Stores Toys' R & # 39; Who will fill them?

Vacancies in local shopping centers increased in more than 70% of metropolitan areas. Indianapolis, Dayton and Wichita had the highest rates in the country.

Other chain stores are closing at a rapid pace, further injuring shopping malls and shopping malls. The number of store closures in 2017 more than tripled to a record 7,000.

Related: The most difficult year for retail trade: a record for closures

This year is on track to reach the top of last year. According to Coresight Research, a retail think tank, more than 4,100 large retail stores closed in 2018. [19659006] Six hundred Walgreens closed this year, while Bon-Ton, Sears and Kmart Best Buy, Signet Jewelers, Mattress Firm and GNC all closed 200 or more stores this year. Claire's, Foot Locker and The Children's Place have closed 100 or more locations.

Chris Isidore of CNNMoney contributed to this story

CNNMoney (New York) First published July 3, 2018: 1:42 pm ET