The Quit Rate Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
No doubt the number of employees quitting contributed to the hiring woes of employers. The industries with the top two quit rates in August and September 1) Leisure and hospitality (including food service), and 2) Retail trade. Generally, relatively low paid, high customer contact positions. Workers Not in the Labor Force The table below compares the number of workers by age that opted to stay out of the workforce in October 2021 relative to October 2020. Who’s not going back to work despite the record level of job openings? Older Americans. The number of workers opting to stay out of the workforce for workers aged 16–24 years and 25–54 years decreased for both groups. However, the number of workers opting to stay out of the work force increased by over 1 million for workers aged 55 and older. Will older workers rejoin the work force? Maybe, but early retirement might look pretty good – particularly given recent stock market returns.
Workers Not in the Work Force by Age (in thousands) (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
16–24 Years
16–24 Years
25–54 Years
25–54 Years
55 and Older
55 and Older
Oct. 2020
Oct. 2021
Oct. 2020
Oct. 2021
Oct. 2020
Oct. 2021
16,943
16,633
23,384
22,798
59,545
60,614
Stock Market Returns For those workers with money invested in the stock market (including retirement funds), things have been looking pretty good. The table below shows the quarterly returns of three major U.S. stock indexes: 1) the S&P 500 – a diversified index that measures the stock performance of 500 relatively large companies (it is a “large-cap” index, generally comprised of companies having a total stock value exceeding $10 billion), 2) the NASDAQ – an index comprised of over 3000 companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and heavily weighted toward technology, and 3) the Russell 2000 – a diversified index that measures the stock performance of 2000 relatively small companies (it is a “small-cap” index, generally comprised of companies having a total stock value less than $2 billion). For comparative purposes, the long-run average annual return (since 1926) is approximately 12 percent on large-cap stocks and 16 percent on small-cap stocks.
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Center for Business and Economic Insight
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