New jobs data shows that the number of Americans who quit their jobs in September soared to a 30-year high, indicating the “Great Resignation” is not over yet, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The agency’s numbers reveal that the percentage of Americans who left their jobs hit 15.9% last month – the highest in more than 30 years.
The figure represents the number of currently unemployed people who voluntarily left their workplace.
Released by the BLS on Friday, the numbers also showed an increase in overall jobs added.
In a survey done by ZipRecruiter last month, one in four job seekers said they feel comfortable leaving their current position without having a new one lined up.
ZipRecruiter Chief Economist Julia Pollak told Observer that that 25% of respondents think the job market is good enough right now that they wouldn’t stay unemployed for very long.
“It's really an indicator of how hot and how strong this labor market is,” Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at Indeed, told the outlet.
While the widespread wave of resignations isn’t isolated to one specific industry, some sectors have been harder hit than others.
According to WorkTango, manufacturing has suffered one of the worst bouts of quitting, with more than 60% of manufacturing employees leaving the industry from before the pandemic to the end of last year.
The hospitality, healthcare, education and retail sectors of the economy all experienced similar staffing reductions, according to the data.
The Daily Mail reports that more than 4.2 million people left their jobs in August and that a similar number resigned their positions in July.
Despite the millions who have exited their roles, the percentage of unemployed remained fairly low.
Approximately 20% of August quitters, or 898,000, reported being unemployed after resigning, according to the Mail.
The median period Americans stay unemployed is 8.3 weeks, according to Observer, which is the shortest period of time between positions in 20 years.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh isn’t worried, however.
Walsh reportedly said in a recent interview that he recognizes the movement but doesn’t think it will be long-lasting.
“It'll work itself out,” Walsh said.
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