(Bloomberg). — In November, an unprecedented 4.5 million Americans left their jobs. However, openings were still high. This demonstrates the persistent churn within the labor market.

The number of available positions fell to 10.6 million from an upwardly revised 11.1 million in October, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. At the same time, quits rates rose to 3% matching previous highs.

A Bloomberg survey of economists found that the median prediction called for an increase to 11.1million job opportunities. Although the decline was largest since April 2020 it still leaves vacancies well above levels pre-pandemic.

This could be a sign that employers were more successful in hiring November’s workers, as the labor force participation — or the percentage of Americans looking for work or working — increased in November. However, the unprecedented number of employees who quit suggests that there will be some churn in companies to support labor demand.

The data come ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, which is currently forecast to show that the U.S. added 420,000 payrolls in December.

There was a significant increase in resignations for accommodation, food and transport.

If more Americans stop engaging in activities such as travel, restaurant dining, and business struggles to keep their doors open, a rise in Covid-19 infection could have an impact on both supply and demand.

In accommodation, food and construction services, as well as nondurable goods production and manufacturing, there was a drop in vacant jobs. Midwest and South had the greatest declines.

The November total hires were 6.7 million, which was little change from the previous month. Also, there were no layoffs or discharges.

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