DALLAS — UPS said Monday it expects to hire about 100,000 seasonal workers and pay them more to handle the avalanche of packages shipped between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That’s about the same number of people that UPS hired for last year’s holiday season. UPS is also counting on automation to keep up with the constant growth in online shopping.

Delivery rival FedEx and major retailers are expected to lay out their plans in the next few weeks.

The official unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, and the tight job market will make it harder and more expensive for those companies to fill seasonal jobs.

Danelle McCusker, the head of U.S. human resources, said UPS paid an average of $10.10 per hour for seasonal workers last year. This year, under a new labor contract, pay rates will range from $14 an hour up to, for truck drivers, $30 an hour, she said.

Other employers are likely to boost pay, too.