The geography of the Great Resignation: First-time data shows where Americans are quitting the most

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Economy

The geography of the Great Resignation: First-time data shows where Americans are quitting the most

Georgia, Kentucky and Idaho lead nation in workers quitting jobs
Number of workers who quit their jobs in August 2021 divided by total employment

By Alyssa Fowers and Eli Rosenberg
Today at 11:39 a.m. EDT | Updated today at 1:31 p.m. EDT

Kentucky, Idaho, South Dakota and Iowa reported the highest increases in the rates of workers who quit their jobs in August, according to a new glimpse of quit rates in the labor market released Friday.

The largest increase in the number of quitters happened in Georgia, with 35,000 more people leaving their jobs. Overall, the states with the highest rates of workers quitting their jobs were Georgia, Kentucky and Idaho.

The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics builds out a portrait of August’s labor market, with historic levels of people leaving jobs and a near-record number of job openings showing the leverage workers have in the new economy. It offers the first detailed insight into the state-by-state geography of this year’s Great Resignation.

“It is a sign of health that there are many companies that are looking for work — that’s a great sign,” said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide. “The downside is there are many workers that won’t come back in. And long term you can’t sustain a labor market that’s as tight as it is right now.”

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By Alyssa Fowers
Alyssa Fowers is a graphics reporter for The Washington Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/alyssafowers

By Eli Rosenberg
Eli Rosenberg covers work and labor for The Washington Post. He joined The Post in 2017 after a decade in New York, where he worked at the New York Times, the Daily News, and the Brooklyn Paper. He has covered misinformation campaigns, politics in the Trump era, immigration issues, and disasters across the country. Twitter https://twitter.com/emrosenberg

[napi21]

1. Looks like the States thaat sstick mostly to thee $7/00 Fed. minimum to me. I live in Ga. & lots of

employers do that. I don't blame the employees, they finally have the upper hand and they're using it!

[Farmer-Rick]

2. Oh no, we will have to stop paying slave wages

"And long term you can’t sustain a labor market that’s as tight as it is right now.” Really Why? It doesn't say in the article. What's wrong with the tightness of the job market?

In the US, an employer can legally pay you just $2.13 an hour. Yeah, there is some pretending that tips are supposed to compensate you but does it really? Who can live on less than $5,000 a year? And you would still be paying more in taxes than Trump.

When employers are paying 50 percent more in wages then they did pre-pandemic, then we can start wringing our hands over it. Until then, suck it up.