Over 4m Workers Quit Jobs In October – Report

Latest report released on Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has shown that a total of 4.2 million Americans quit their jobs in October.

Gatekeepers News reporters that the BLS made this known in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, saying the number of people who left jobs for other opportunities in the period under review represents 2.8 percent of the workforce.

The report added that 11 million job openings, only slightly less than the record from July. In September, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs.

“This report once again shows strong demand from employers leading to a hot labor market,” Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed, wrote Wednesday. “The bargaining table is tilted more toward workers than it has been in the past. … The question now is whether the omicron variant cools down in the labour market.”

The new figure job quitters, according to Washington Post, is a reflection of what is perhaps the most worker-friendly climate in decades, as workers have the ability to sort through near-record levels of job postings, and many employers are hungry to hire. Many employers have moved to raise wages or offer generous signing bonuses to attract employees.

The report explained that Industries with the highest level of employees leaving are those that have been affected the most by the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, including accommodation and food services, with 6 percent of workers quitting in October.

A further breakdown shows that in retails, 4.4 percent of workers quit; in arts, entertainment and recreation, another 3.8 percent of workers quit; 803,000 people quit their jobs in accommodation and food services during the month.

Washington Post said the rates decreased for most industries compared with September’s record numbers. But they did increase in state and local employment, professional and business services, real estate and rental leasing, and mining and logging. Overall, the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings hit a new low in October — a striking reflection of how tight the labour market is.

“The hot market for hires has been driven in large part by the extraordinarily large and fast rise in demand,” Bunker said. “Given that the rise in openings in this report was likely due to a waning of the latest wave of the pandemic, the question now is whether the omicron variant cools down in the labour market.”

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in November fell to 4.2 percent, approaching February 2020′s 3.5 percent rate, but there are still about 4 million fewer people employed now compared with February 2020.