4.5 million workers quit jobs in November : BLS

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record number of 4.5 million American workers quit their jobs in November. This has pushed the quits rate to 3%, matching the high numbers in September. Workers were most likely to quit their jobs in the hospitality industry, which had the highest quits rate in November- 6.1%. The number of quits was also significantly high in the healthcare sector. The number of workers who quit in transportation, warehousing and utilities also increased. 

Nick Bunker, director of research at a job recruitment site says, "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." The big question for 2022 is will this dynamic persist. The high number of quits is a sign of a tight labor market where workers can quickly find new and better jobs. 

The November data that was released on Tuesday does not factor in the impact of the Omicron variant in the US yet. The variant has pushed infection rates higher and has put many more workers at risk to contract the virus at their places of work. Meanwhile, the UCLA Labor Center said in a report on Tuesday that nearly a quarter of fast-food workers in the Los Angeles area contracted Covid over the past 18 months. Less than half of them were notified by their employers that they had been potentially exposed to the virus.

Source: CNN