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Kentucky had highest quits rate in August 2021

October 28, 2021

Kentucky had the highest quits rate in August 2021, at 4.5 percent, followed by Georgia (4.2 percent) and Idaho (4.1 percent). The national quits rate was 2.9 percent in August 2021.

State quits rate from August 2019 to August 2021
State Aug 2019 Sep 2019 Oct 2019 Nov 2019 Dec 2019 Jan 2020 Feb 2020 Mar 2020 Apr 2020 May 2020 Jun 2020 Jul 2020 Aug 2020 Sep 2020 Oct 2020

Alabama

2.7% 2.5% 2.2% 2.6% 2.5% 2.6% 2.4% 1.6% 1.6% 1.4% 2.0% 2.5% 2.7% 3.2% 3.0%

Alaska

3.6 3.9 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9 2.7 2.5 1.8 2.5 4.2 2.8 2.7 2.0

Arizona

2.8 3.0 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.6 1.8 1.9 1.3 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.9 2.5

Arkansas

2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.1 1.7 1.5 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.9

California

2.1 2.2 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.3 1.5 1.6 2.2 1.6 1.9 1.9

Colorado

2.7 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.1 1.0 1.1 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.3

Connecticut

1.8 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.5 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.3 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.7

Delaware

2.8 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.8 3.0 2.4 2.1 2.5 2.0 2.1 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.9

District of Columbia

1.9 1.4 1.9 1.6 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.7 1.8 1.1 1.8 1.8 1.9

Florida

2.5 2.4 2.3 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 1.8 1.6 2.3 2.6 2.3 2.6 3.1

Georgia

2.6 2.1 2.6 2.7 2.9 3.0 2.7 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.8 3.4 2.9 2.8

Hawaii

2.3 2.4 2.6 2.1 2.7 2.0 2.3 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.1 3.0 2.3 4.7 2.1

Idaho

2.9 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.2 2.8 3.0 2.1 2.0 1.7 2.3 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.7

Illinois

2.2 1.9 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.3 1.9 2.3 2.1

Indiana

2.7 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.7 2.8 2.3 2.7 2.4

Iowa

2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.2 1.7 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.6 2.3 2.1 2.4

Kansas

2.3 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.4 1.7 1.3 0.9 1.8 2.6 2.0 2.2 2.4

Kentucky

2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.5 3.2 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.2 1.9 3.1 3.1 3.2

Louisiana

2.8 2.7 2.6 2.7 3.2 2.4 2.6 2.1 1.8 1.9 2.4 2.5 2.8 3.7 2.6

Maine

2.0 2.0 2.4 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.3 1.6 1.1 1.1 2.1 2.4 2.2 1.8 2.2

Maryland

2.2 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.0 1.9 1.6 1.7 1.8 2.1 1.7 1.7 2.1

Massachusetts

2.2 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.4 1.0 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.8

Michigan

2.8 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 1.6 1.5 2.3 2.8 2.6 2.6 2.9

Minnesota

1.9 2.0 1.9 1.8 2.1 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.6 2.2 1.5 1.5 1.8

Mississippi

2.6 2.6 2.3 2.6 3.0 2.8 2.7 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.0 3.4 3.3 3.0

Missouri

2.1 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.8 2.9 2.3 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.8 2.3

Montana

3.1 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.1 2.7 2.1 2.1 1.1 2.2 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.7

Nebraska

2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.2 1.1 1.5 2.0 3.0 2.2 2.4 2.5

Nevada

2.7 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.8 2.7 3.1 1.8 3.3 2.8 3.2 2.0 3.1 2.6

New Hampshire

2.2 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.7 2.0 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.7 2.0

New Jersey

1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.6 2.0 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.2 1.8 2.3 2.8

New Mexico

2.6 2.8 2.6 3.1 2.8 2.7 2.6 1.9 1.6 1.2 1.8 2.6 2.4 2.3 2.3

New York

1.7 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.5

North Carolina

3.1 3.0 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 1.9 1.7 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 3.0

North Dakota

2.9 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.3 1.8 2.3 2.3 3.2 2.0 2.7 2.7

Ohio

2.1 2.9 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.0 1.6 1.5 2.3 2.5 2.1 2.5 2.5

Oklahoma

3.0 2.9 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.3 2.1 2.3 1.6 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.7

Oregon

2.9 2.6 3.1 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.2 1.6 1.6 1.8 2.3 2.1 2.2 2.2

Pennsylvania

1.9 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.3 1.2 1.0 1.7 2.0 1.6 1.9 1.6

Rhode Island

2.0 2.0 2.2 1.8 1.8 1.8 2.0 1.6 2.0 1.0 1.6 1.8 1.7 2.2 2.2

South Carolina

2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.5 3.4 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.3

South Dakota

2.3 2.3 2.9 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.0 1.0 1.5 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.3

Tennessee

2.7 2.2 2.5 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.4 1.8 2.4 2.1 2.5 2.4 2.8 2.9 2.7

Texas

2.7 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.3 1.5 2.3 1.8 2.2 2.4 2.9 2.8

Utah

2.9 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.8 2.6 2.0 1.2 1.3 1.9 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3

Vermont

2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.2 1.6 0.4 0.4 1.8 2.2 1.8 2.1 2.4

Virginia

2.8 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.2 2.3

Washington

2.2 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.3 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.6 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.8

West Virginia

3.0 2.8 3.2 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.6 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.7 2.9 3.3 3.1

Wisconsin

2.0 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.0 1.2 1.3 1.5 2.9 2.0 2.0 2.2

Wyoming

3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.5 2.4 1.1 1.9 2.3 3.0 2.2 2.6 2.9
 State quits rate from August 2019 to August 2021 (continued)
State Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 Mar 2021 Apr 2021 May 2021 Jun 2021 Jul 2021 Aug 2021

Alabama

2.6% 2.6% 2.5% 2.8% 2.7% 3.0% 2.5% 3.0% 2.9% 3.1%

Alaska

2.3 3.6 4.3 3.9 3.6 3.6 3.3 4.0 4.3 3.9

Arizona

2.7 3.1 2.3 3.1 3.2 3.7 3.0 2.9 3.2 3.0

Arkansas

3.0 2.9 2.7 3.0 2.9 3.1 2.5 3.1 3.1 3.1

California

1.7 2.0 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.5 2.5

Colorado

2.5 3.0 2.6 2.4 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.9 3.3 3.4

Connecticut

1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.5 2.1 2.4 2.2

Delaware

2.9 2.9 2.9 2.7 2.9 3.8 2.7 2.7 3.1 3.3

District of Columbia

1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.7 1.7

Florida

2.7 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.6 3.1 3.0

Georgia

2.9 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9 4.2 3.0 4.1 3.4 4.2

Hawaii

2.1 1.5 2.2 2.2 2.4 3.9 4.2 2.8 3.3 3.3

Idaho

2.6 2.7 2.9 2.8 2.8 3.1 2.4 2.9 3.0 4.1

Illinois

2.2 2.7 2.2 2.0 2.6 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.9 3.5

Indiana

2.6 2.8 2.4 2.6 2.6 3.4 2.8 3.1 3.2 3.6

Iowa

2.1 1.9 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.7 3.6

Kansas

2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.9 2.9 3.1

Kentucky

3.2 2.8 3.6 2.5 3.4 4.2 3.2 3.2 3.1 4.5

Louisiana

3.1 3.0 2.7 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.0 3.1

Maine

2.3 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.3 1.6 2.0 2.6 2.9 2.8

Maryland

2.0 1.7 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.7

Massachusetts

1.8 1.5 1.9 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.2 2.5

Michigan

2.4 2.8 2.4 2.8 2.8 3.8 3.1 2.5 3.3 3.1

Minnesota

1.9 2.1 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 3.1 2.6 2.6

Mississippi

3.1 3.6 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.7 2.7 3.2 2.6 3.4

Missouri

2.3 2.7 2.5 2.8 2.6 2.7 2.7 3.2 3.1 3.3

Montana

2.9 2.5 3.3 2.7 3.1 3.1 1.9 2.9 3.1 3.3

Nebraska

2.5 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.9 1.7 2.3 2.8 3.0 3.2

Nevada

3.0 2.7 3.3 3.3 3.2 4.4 6.0 3.2 3.1 3.5

New Hampshire

2.2 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.0 2.6 2.9 2.6

New Jersey

2.2 1.8 2.1 2.3 1.9 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.6

New Mexico

2.3 3.1 2.3 3.2 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.9 2.7 3.2

New York

1.5 1.6 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.8 2.2 2.2

North Carolina

3.0 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.8 3.4 3.3 3.1 3.3 3.4

North Dakota

2.7 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.9 2.6 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1

Ohio

2.3 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.9

Oklahoma

2.5 2.7 3.1 2.7 2.6 3.3 2.5 2.8 3.5 3.2

Oregon

2.1 2.7 2.7 2.5 3.1 3.1 3.1 2.7 2.6 3.1

Pennsylvania

2.1 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.2 2.2 1.5 2.0 2.1 2.1

Rhode Island

2.2 2.4 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.8 1.9 2.3 2.3 2.5

South Carolina

3.5 2.6 3.1 2.7 3.1 4.2 2.9 2.8 3.0 2.9

South Dakota

2.1 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.8 2.5 3.4

Tennessee

2.8 2.8 2.7 2.8 3.1 3.5 2.9 2.6 2.6 3.4

Texas

2.6 3.2 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.8 3.0

Utah

2.4 2.3 2.6 3.0 2.7 2.5 1.8 2.9 2.7 2.6

Vermont

2.8 2.4 2.1 2.4 2.4 1.4 1.4 2.4 3.0 2.7

Virginia

2.4 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.3 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.9

Washington

1.9 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4

West Virginia

3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 3.2 2.9 2.6 3.5 3.3

Wisconsin

2.1 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.7 3.4

Wyoming

2.6 2.6 3.3 3.7 3.3 2.5 2.6 2.9 3.3 2.9

In August, quits rates had significant over-the-month increases in 14 states. The largest increases in quits rate, from July 2021 to August 2021, occurred in Kentucky (+1.4 percentage points) and Idaho (+1.1 percentage points).

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "State Job Openings and Labor Turnover — August 2021." We also have more charts featuring data on state job openings, hires, and separations. The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Kentucky had highest quits rate in August 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/kentucky-had-highest-quits-rate-in-august-2021.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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