Americans Quitting Jobs at Highest Rate Since 2007

Americans quit their jobs in December at the highest rate since 2007, with 3.1 million workers walking away from their jobs, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday.

The jump was an increase from the previous month, said the report, and could be a sign of healthier economy.

"The number of quits is now higher than in December 2007 (2.8 million), the first month of the recession," said the report. "The quits rate was 2.1 percent in December 2015. The number of quits rose for total private and government over the month."

"Quits rose in state and local government (+20,000) but fell in nondurable goods manufacturing (-25,000). Quits increased in the South region over the month." 

Economists see the trend as a sign that workers may be feeling more confident they can leave a job and go find maybe a better, higher paying one, said Fox News. The record number of Americans quitting their jobs comes at roughly the same time as the unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in January, an eight-year low.

Well Fargo economists backed up that notion in a research note Tuesday, saying some believe it is an important component to an improving economy, reported Market Watch.

"The pickup in quits reflects workers feeling additional job opportunities are more widely available," said the Wells Fargo research note. "Job switching is an important source of an individual's wage growth. In addition to firms having to compete more heavily via wages as the labor market tightens, the bump in wages reflects the presumed productivity enhancements of better matching workers with available jobs."

The labor department report said job openings increased by 5.6 million in December, a rate of 3.8 percent. The study said increases came in construction (+69,000), nondurable goods manufacturing (+60,000), and durable goods manufacturing (+26,000).

Market Watch warned, though, that the delayed report does not reflect January numbers when the government reported a job's growth slowdown.

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