4.5 Million Americans Left their Jobs in November

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million Americans decided to quit their jobs in November.

The quits rate in November was 3 percent, matching September’s high.

People were more likely to leave their jobs in the hospitality sector, with the highest number of employees quitting at 6.1 percent in November, along with those in the health sector. According to a report, the number of workers leaving utilities, transportation, and warehousing was also up.

“Workers continued to quit their jobs at a historic rate. The low-wage sectors directly impacted by the pandemic continued to be the source of much of the elevated quitting,” said Nick Bunker, director of research at the Indeed Hiring Lab.

The high percentage of people quitting is a sign of a tight labor market, where workers can quickly get a new and perhaps better job, the report added.

The data for November released on Tuesday does not yet reflect omicron’s impact, which increased cases and put a lot of employees at risk of contracting the virus at work.

Including layoffs and discharges, the total number of removals was 6.3 million in November.

Restaurants and hotels recorded the largest growth in separations and also saw the biggest reduction in open positions, according to the figures.

America was home to 10.6 million vacant jobs in November, a slightly lower number than 11 million job opportunities in October. US jobs reached a peak of 11.1 million in July.

Finance and insurance positions, as well as the federal government, were up in November.

The number of employees hired was at 6.7 million, which paints an optimistic picture of the current labor market, according to the report.

“People who quit are taking other jobs, not leaving the workforce,” said Heidi Shierholz, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, in a tweet Tuesday. “On net, the labor market is gaining a ton of jobs every month.”