Ok, I couldn’t resist the obvious … I realize I’m no longer in the daily ‘game’ of trying to sway anyone with a view about the direction of the next <10, 25bps — pick one> move but the first couple days of selling are certainly worth noting. It’s also comes with a bit of ‘good’ news (where ‘good’ is in the eye of the hiring manager / beholder).
Head to ZeroHedge for a few of the visuals and some snark:
A Record Number Of Americans Just Quit Their Job, As Job Openings Surpass Unemployed Workers By A Record 3.7 Million …
… What we find remarkable is that even despite the plunge in job openings, as a result of the parallel collapse in unemployed people, there was a new record, or 3.7 million, more vacant jobs than unemployed workers in November, confirming that the US labor market remains painfully cracked.
…But perhaps the most interesting highlight of today's JOLTS report was neither the openings nor the hiring activity, but rather the number of quits, which unexpectedly soared to an all time high, jumping in November by 370K to a record 4.527 million.
Quits increased in several industries with the largest increases in accommodation and food services (+159,000); health care and social assistance (+52,000); and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+33,000). The number of quits increased in the Northeast, South, and Midwest regions.
The quits rate of 3.0%, matched a series high last seen in September, as quits increased in several industries with the largest increases in accommodation and food services (+159,000); health care and social assistance (+52,000); and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+33,000). The number of quits increased in the Northeast, South, and Midwest regions.
As a reminder, this "take this job and shove it" indicator is generally seen as a real-time proxy of how marketable employees think they are, as they tend to quit jobs and look for higher paying occupations when the job market is red hot. And since it tends to lag peaks in job openings modestly, the surge in quits was probably not all that surprising.
And on THAT blatantly obvious note, Johnny PayCHEX, singing the great resignation’s theme song