The phenomenon called the Great Resignation continued in December 2021, as 4.3 million U.S. workers quit their jobs. That’s slightly down from the record 4.5 million in November and continues a monthslong streak of historically elevated churn, according to the monthly JOLTS report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Quitting has been especially high in health care, hospitality and construction, as well as low-wage sectors in general, where workers have been leaving their positions partly in response to increased opportunities in the labor market as job openings strongly outnumber those looking for work. There were 10.9 million job openings posted on the last day of December, far more than the roughly 6.3 million people counted as unemployed.
