The Great Resignation Is Now the Big Stay
US workers are changing jobs less frequently, easing pressure on the hot labor market and giving the Fed scope to lower interest rates.
No, not looking.
Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images North AmericaThe Great Resignation is in the rear-view mirror, and the labor market is showing hints of swinging back in the complete opposite direction.
A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed the so-called quits rate — the rate at which workers voluntarily leave their jobs, excluding retirements — fell to 2.1% in January, the lowest since August 2020 on a seasonally adjusted basis. While policymakers have long worried that the labor market had gotten too tight and could fuel inflation, the updated trend in resignations suggests workers are now leaving their jobs less often than was the case before the pandemic disruptions (when inflation was famously low). The Great Resignation has given way to the Big Stay.