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Are Americans quitting their jobs at a record pace?

Wednesday, November 24, 2021
By Jacob Alabab-Moser
YES

The number of quits — "generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee" — increased in September to the highest level on record at 4.4 million, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data dating back to 2004. The quits rate also increased to 3.0% in September. In comparison, the quits rate was 2.1% a year before.

The Great Resignation, as the phenomenon has come to be known, has affected the tech and health care industries most heavily, while resignations actually decreased slightly in industries such as manufacturing and finance.

Experts still have not reached a consensus on root causes. Gallup survey data highlights how quitting is related to low rates of employee engagement, while University of California, Berkeley economist Ulrike Malmendie has proposed that people are quitting due to the more existential "experience effects" of living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

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