South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute explains why “the lack of improvement in [voluntary] quits is a bright red flag in the sea of optimism about recent labor market indicators. ”

The low level of voluntary quits provides yet more evidence that the key issue behind today’s persistent high unemployment is a lack of job opportunities rather than workers not having the right skills for available jobs. By the very fact of their employment, employed workers have demonstrated that they have skills that are needed in today’s economy. The fact that these workers too are unable to find new job opportunities shows that it is not that today’s unemployed workers don’t have the right skills, it is that the job opportunities just aren’t there….