Some 4.25 million U.S. workers quit their jobs in January, slightly down from the 4.4 million reported in December, according to the monthly JOLTS report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quitting has been especially high in retail, hospitality, professional services, and other low-wage industries.
In 2021, workers quit their jobs at the highest rate on record, leaving their positions partly in response to increased opportunities in the labor market as job openings continue to strongly outnumber those looking for work. There were 11.3 million job openings posted on the last day of January 2022, far more than the roughly 6.3 million people counted as unemployed.