A record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November, Labor Department says

A sign in the parking lot of Mariano's grocery store advertises the availability of jobs, Oct. 8, 2021, in Chicago. U.S. employers posted 11 million open jobs in October, nearly matching a record high reached in July and a sign that companies were confident . A government report Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 also showed that the number of people quitting their jobs dropped in October to 4.2 million, though that is still the third-highest number of monthly resignations on record. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, file)

WASHINGTON — A record 4.5 million American workers quit their jobs in November, a sign of confidence and more evidence that the U.S. job market is bouncing back strongly from last year’s coronavirus recession.

According to CNBC, the number of resignations represented a 9% increase from October. The previous record was set in September when 4.36 million Americans quit their jobs.

Dubbed “The Great Resignation,” experts say the high number of Americans quitting their jobs stems from the fact that many are re-evaluating their lives, careers, and circumstances amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My thought was, these individuals who would have normally turned over over the years stayed in place because of the uncertainty of the pandemic. So, once the pandemic lifts, there’s going to be this backlog of resignations,” Texas A&M Professor Anthony Klotz said in June.

The Labor Department also reported Tuesday that employers posted 10.6 million job openings in November, down from 11.1 million in October but still high by historical standards.

In its monthly Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) the Labor Department also reported that employers hired 6.7 million people in November, up from 6.5 million in October.

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