A Record 4.5 Million Americans Quit Their Jobs in November

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(Bloomberg) -- A record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November while openings remained elevated, highlighting persistent churn in the labor market.

The number of available positions fell to 10.6 million from an upwardly revised 11.1 million in October, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. Meanwhile, the quits rate increased to 3%, matching a series high.

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a rise to 11.1 million job openings. While the drop was the largest since April 2020, vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The decline could indicate that employers had more success hiring in November as the labor force participation rate -- the share of Americans working or looking for work -- ticked up in the month. Even so, an unprecedented level of quits suggests that churn within companies will prop up labor demand for some time.

The data come ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, which is currently forecast to show that the U.S. added 420,000 payrolls in December.

Resignations jumped in accommodation and food services, health care and transportation.

A surge in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks could impact both the supply of workers and the number of job openings if more Americans pull back on activities like travel and restaurant dining and businesses struggle to stay open.

Vacancies dropped in accommodation and food services, construction and nondurable goods manufacturing. The biggest decreases were in the South and Midwest.

Total hires were little changed in November at 6.7 million. Layoffs and discharges were also steady.

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