The gap between voluntary and involuntary separations continues to grow, suggesting that the millions of Americans who have felt stuck in less-than-satisfactory jobs are increasingly confident about their ability to find greener pastures. The latest report on job openings and labor turnover from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of people who quit their jobs in February is near a post-recession high of nearly 2.4 million. While that remains about 500,000 below a pre-recession quit level of about 3.1 million, the number of Americans quitting their jobs has more than doubled from the lows reached in the immediate wake of the recession, when fewer than 1.7 million Americans were willing to walk out on their employer. Meanwhile, the number of involuntary separations over the past several months is at or below pre-recession levels. In February, just over 1.6 million Americans were forced out of their jobs, which is below the nearly 1.8 million layoffs and discharges averaged each month in 2006 and 2007.
Read the story here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
