Almost 3% of the American workforce, around 4.3 million people, said "I quit" in August — a record high. In the leisure sector specifically, that number was more like 6% of the workforce.
Job buffet
People tend not to quit during times of distress (like 2009, or April last year), and so such a high number of quits is, in some ways, a positive sign for the economy.
The record levels of "I quit" also make sense in the context of the other dataset that's near a record high — job openings. With more than 10 million jobs open, quitters clearly feel confident that they'll be able to move onto greener pastures.
For businesses trying to fill open positions, this news is probably less exciting. There are already labor shortages in a number of industries — most notably in those sectors with lots of public contact and relatively low wages, like retail, leisure and hospitality. With quit rates high in all of those sectors, those shortages probably aren't going anywhere.
