Most recently, quits as a percentage of total employment in the U.S. have fallen from 1.8% to 1.7%, but that is in stark contrast to where quits were at the height of the recession: 1.2%. On average, quits have been around 2.1% leaving some room for growth in Americans? confidence to get a new job should they leave their current employer, but much closer to normal. To bolster Americans? confidence, the number of job seekers for each job opening has fallen from 7 at the height of the recession to 2.6 presently. Similarly, the percent of new hires as a total employment in the U.S. dropped to 1.7% from 1.8%, but, again, this is much higher than the 1.2% seen in 2009. Each of these factors contribute to labor?s growing strength in negotiating the employment relationship.
See "Data on Hiring, Quitting Point to Job Softness at Year End", Neil Shah, The Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2014