More Americans Quit And Started Jobs In June, Signaling Stronger Labor Market

Slightly more Americans quit their jobs and started new ones in June, signaling that a bit more workers may be finding jobs more easily or feeling confident enough in the job market to leave jobs not suited to their skills.

It's a good sign for the economy when people quit their jobs and have another one lined up, or have confidence that they'll find another job without difficulty. It's not such a good sign when fewer people quit jobs, because it likely indicates people are settling for jobs less than ideal for their skills, thinking there's not much else for them in the job market.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers posted more job openings (4.7 million) in June than in May (4.6 million). June hires also improved, up from 4.7 million hires in May to 4.8 million, the Labor Department said, the highest number of openings in more than a decade.

The quit rate in June remained 1.8 percent, unchanged from May and little changed from a year ago, although the number of Americans quitting jobs increased from 2.49 million to 2.53 million. In June 2013, the government measured the quit rate at 1.7 percent. The quit rate has risen a bit since a dive during the recession but remains below prerecession rates, which hovered at around 2.3 percent.

Recent college graduates would particularly benefit from a rising quit rate. According to a January study by the Federal Reserve, in 2012, 44 percent of workers ages 22 to 27 and with bachelor's degrees worked a job that didn't require their degree. In 2001, that portion was 34 percent, the Fed said.