People arrive from Metro North Railroad trains at New York's Grand Central Station.
The total employment openings pulled back a bit in November, but workers quit their jobs in record numbers.
According to the department, the quits level increased to 4.53 million for the month. That was an increase of 9% from October and broke September's high-water mark of 4.36 million. The quits rate was 3% as a percentage of the workforce.
The Great Resignation is a phenomenon in which workers leave their positions due to increased mobility in the labor market as job openings outnumber those looking for work.
The number of job openings in November was lower than the 11 million estimate from FactSet and the decline from October. The number of people out of work and looking for work in November was more than the number of jobs that were created.
The job openings rate was 6.6%, down from about 7% in October but still better than the 4.5% from the prior year.
The Great Resignation shows no sign of abating. Robert Frick is the corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. Many Americans have the confidence to quit given the high level of job openings and rising pay, but Caval-19 burnout and fear are continuing.
The manufacturing activity in December was slower than expected.
The ISM Manufacturing index dropped from 61.1% in November to 58.7% in December.
At a time when inflation is running at its highest level in nearly 40 years, supplier deliveries fell 7.3 percentage points and prices fell 14.2 percentage points. Survey responses show that prices are decimating steel and oil.
The employment index rose to 54.2%, a gain of 0.9 percentage point, and shows that hiring remains strong.
There are some displacements in the labor market according to the report.
The openings rate in leisure and hospitality fell to 8.7% from 10.1%, due to a drop in the number of rooms. The hire rate in leisure and hospitality was 8.1%, but the quits rate was 6.4%.
The health care and social assistance industry showed stress as Covid cases surged, with the quits rate in that field hitting 3% for the month, the highest on record.
Three days before the Labor Department releases its closely watched nonfarm payrolls count for December, the report comes. The unemployment rate is expected to go down to 4.1%, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
