Labor Dept. says a record 4.4M U.S. workers quit their jobs in September

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Almost 4 and a half million American workers quit their jobs during the month of September, according to Labor Department figures on Friday -- the most ever for a single month.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, said that 4.4 million U.S. workers quit for the month.

A month earlier, in August, 4.3 million workers left their jobs. At the time, it was the largest figure in two decades.

The total number of separations for September, which also included layoffs and firings, was 6.2 million, the report said.

The Labor Department said in its report Friday that there were 6.5 million hirings nationwide during the month of September. File Photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI

A number of factors are weighing on the job market, including the ongoing threat of COVID-19, difficulty in finding child care and employees who leave for better pay or improved working conditions elsewhere.

Friday's report noted that there were 10.4 million job openings in the United States on the final day of September, which is close to a record level.

"Over the 12 months ending in September 2021, hires totaled 73.3 million and separations totaled 67.7 million, yielding a net employment gain of 5.6 million," the department said in a statement. "These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year."