Workers quitting jobs at higher-than-normal rates

Fewer workers in Connecticut quit their jobs in March than any month dating back to last October, according to new federal estimates — but with an estimated 36,000 people walking, the numbers remain well over historic norms.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that a record 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in March, amid the largest continuing disruption to the labor markets in memory.

Quits peaked in Connecticut last November with 47,000 workers leaving their jobs, according to BLS surveys, whether to snag better offers, head into early retirement or just take sabbaticals with the security of prior income or that of a family member.

Over the eight years prior to the pandemic, job quits had reached their highest level in 2017 at 32,000 workers leaving on their own accord. Connecticut matched that number in March 2021 as well.

The Connecticut Department of Labor is slated to publish updated estimates for employment in Connecticut Thursday morning.

DOL estimated last month that Connecticut employers had increased jobs six straight months through March to nearly 1.65 million in all, with a gap of about 50,000 jobs from March 2019 a year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Nearly 1.8 million Connecticut residents held jobs in March according to DOL, including people whose jobs are located in New York and other neighboring states or elsewhere.

The Conference Board tracked nearly 98,500 Connecticut job postings online in April, down 15,000 fewer than the prior month. It is not known what percentage of those postings were to fill the shoes of workers who left, versus jobs generated by accelerating growth, new business initiatives or startups.

While health care and social services continue to dominate new job listings — registered nurses remain in particular demand — finance and insurance jobs leapfrogged retail to become the second biggest industry sector in Connecticut looking to hire, with 10,000 postings in April.

With retailers hard pressed to fill slots, the industry faces additional pressure this month and next as Connecticut’s hospitality and entertainment sector dangles jobs for the summer season.

Speaking Wednesday on a conference call, the CEO of Walmart’s U.S. operations told analysts that the company continues to see yo-yo tendencies in its labor force as an ongoing consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“After the omicron variant, we had a significant number of people come back, where we had been over-scheduling and overstaffing due to leaves,” said John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S. “All came back at the same time.”

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo A Sally’s Apizza employee works the tables in October 2021 at the chain’s newest location in Stamford. Connecticut logged record job quits that month, but the state’s employment count has increased for six straight months.