Quits fell slightly in November, but it appears as if the Great Resignation isn’t going away just yet, according to the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…(BLS)
- Job openings increased to 11 million in November, just slightly under the record high reported in July.
- The largest increases were in food services (+254,000); nondurable goods manufacturing (+45,000); and educational services (+42,000).
BEAT THE STREET: Economists had projected a drop to 10.36M.
Hirings were unchanged in November at 6.5 million despite increases in educational services (+54,000) and in state and local government education (+37,000).
- The gains were offset by loses in the financial industry (-96,000)
Total separations fell slightly to 5.9 million thanks to a decrease in quits for month…
- Quits fell 205k to 4.2 million thanks to a decrease in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-57,000), finance and insurance (-45,000), and arts, entertainment, and recreation(-33,000).
- Layoffs and other separations were little changed for the month.
Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed, wrote on Wednesday that is still a very strong market for labor.
- “The bargaining table is tilted more toward workers than it has been in the past … The question now is whether the omicron variant cools down in the labor market.”