By Alice Seeley
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.3 million Americans left their jobs in December at the height of the Omicron outbreak, adding to the country’s current 10.9 million job openings. Job openings remain near record highs, just below July’s record high of 11.1 million job openings.
Despite the high number of quits, the rate at which Americans left their jobs went down by 0.1% from the previous month, which saw 4.5 million Americans leave the workforce.
With the lack of employees and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, employers struggled to keep their stores open as daycare centers across the country closed and schools went virtual once again. The most affected industry was food services, with 6% of the industry’s workers leaving in December. The retail sector was next with 4% of the industry’s workers leaving, and the utilities and business industries were third with 3% of workers leaving.
Due to an ongoing labor shortage, the number of workers laid off in December reached a record low at 0.8%. This indicates that employers are valuing their workers more than ever and holding onto their employees for as long as possible.
Economist Nick Bunker does not believe that the omicron variant had a major effect on the demand for workers in December.
“The labor market has given many people more opportunities but provided security for people who do have a job,” Bunker said. “Anyone who had a job in December was less likely to have lost it than any previous time over the last 20 years ‘, he said.
In addition to the shortage of workers, the country faces a shortage of jobs despite the number of openings. While the job market across the world did have an impressive year of growth in 2021, there are still 3 million fewer jobs in the U.S. than in pre-COVID years.
