The quit rate, which measures the number of jobs quit as a percentage of total employment, reached 2.8% in April 2021, the highest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began collecting data in 2001. This record high quit rate occurred while the unemployment rate was 6.1%, still 2.6 percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.
Quit rates typically trend down as unemployment rates go up. For example, the lowest recorded quit rate of 1.2% came in August and September 2009. At that time, the unemployment rate was 9.6% and 9.8%, respectively. Over time, as the unemployment rate dropped, the quit rate rose.
The pandemic led to a record high unemployment rate of 14.8% in April 2020. The quit rate decreased to 1.6% but did not fall as low as the rate set in 2009.
