In November alone, more than 4.5 millions workers leftvoluntarily. This forced employers to scramble for work amid an empty labor market.
Americans are leaving their jobs faster than ever before, causing staff shortages in restaurants, hotels and other establishments that struggle to fill vacant slots due to fierce competition.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that 4.53 million people voluntarily quit their job in November. This is more than the September record of 4.36 millions. It represented 3%, or 37% of US’s total workforce. This is a significant increase from the previous year.
The largest losses occurred in lodging and food service, where 920,000 employees left, as well as retail trade with 686,000 departures. According to the report, hospitals and other health care employers suffered a severe blow, losing 598,000 staff.
It was largely one-way traffic. More than three employees quit after each one was fired. Employers didn’t hesitate to fire employees in the tough labor market. There were 1.37 million November layoffs. This is 36% less than a year prior.
As rival employers offer better wages and bonuses, employees are leaving the workforce in their droves. Other cases have seen people rethinking their lives and work due to the pandemic.
According to the BLS, employers had nearly 6.7 millions jobs available in November. This year, the number of jobs available was 56% higher than a previous year and close to 11.1 million in July. Even though there were more job openings than usual, businesses still had 11% less to hire. Employers filled 89% of all available positions in November 2020. However, this rate fell to 63% last Nov.
The large number of jobs available may reflect more turnover than economic growth. According to the BLS, just 210,000 additional jobs were created in November. It was the lowest level in nearly one year. Dow Jones economists predicted a rise of 570,000 jobs, but the reality was that job growth came in below expectations. Although the US unemployment rate was down to 4.2% it still exceeded the 3.5% mark that was reached just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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