October unemployment data shows something interesting about worker confidence: 10.9% of unemployed people are job leavers, up from 10.5% the month before.
When people voluntarily quit without another job lined up, it usually means they believe they can find something better. That confidence matters. It's a real-time signal of how workers perceive the labor market.
Not a huge jump, but the direction tells you something. People don't leave jobs in a tight market if they're worried about landing on their feet. This is behavioral economics playing out in the employment data.
The question is whether this confidence is justified or if we're seeing the last gasps of a hot labor market cooling down. Time will tell.
When people voluntarily quit without another job lined up, it usually means they believe they can find something better. That confidence matters. It's a real-time signal of how workers perceive the labor market.
Not a huge jump, but the direction tells you something. People don't leave jobs in a tight market if they're worried about landing on their feet. This is behavioral economics playing out in the employment data.
The question is whether this confidence is justified or if we're seeing the last gasps of a hot labor market cooling down. Time will tell.