Map shows states where the most people are quitting their jobs

Florida, Missouri and Nevada saw thousands of workers leave their jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For the month, the quit rates in Florida jumped by 0.4 percent to 3.1 percent, which amounted to 35,000 people leaving their jobs. Twenty-five thousand Missourians moved from their roles and saw the quit rate jump by nearly 1 percent to 2.7 percent, while Nevada saw its quit rate jump by 0.7 percent as 10,000 employees left their companies.

For the country overall, February saw 38,000 more people quit their jobs than in January, but the rate remained unchanged.

The U.S. labor market has shown resilience despite an economy that is grappling with tight financial conditions in which borrowing costs are elevated. The Federal Reserve hiked rates beginning in March 2022 in an aggressive pace to battle inflation. The Fed funds rate since June 2023 has sat at a more than two-decade high of 5.25 to 5.5 percent range. This has made borrowing expensive, including for things like business investment.

But companies are still looking to recruit amid high borrowing costs. Hiring rates ticked up in the U.S. in February, as firms added 120,000 more new workers compared to January, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

Florida, which saw relatively high quit rates in February, also witnessed substantial hiring. The hiring rate rose to 4.4 percent with 56,000 hires for the month compared to the prior month. Missouri also saw companies recruit workers at a high rate in February, up by 0.6 percent to 3.9 percent, with 18,000 people getting new jobs. Nevada saw an increase in the hiring rate of 0.3 percent to 4.1 percent with 5,000 new hires.

While these states showed elevated quit rates, the data showing that companies are also hiring suggests that workers in those area feel confident about leaving their jobs for new ones.

Job openings in Florida jumped 20,000 in February, and while the job opening rates was at 5.3 percent lower than at the same time a year ago, it still rose from the prior month by 0.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. Nevada also saw similar trends, with 2,000 more job openings in February with the hiring rate slightly up by 0.1 percent to 5.1 percent. Missouri, however, saw a decline in job openings with the hiring rate dropping by 0.5 percent, a decline of 16,000 job openings in February.

Florida had a 3.1 percent unemployment rate, which was lower than the national rate of 3.9 percent for the month. Missouri also outpaced the country as a whole with a 3.3 percent unemployment rate, while Nevada’s 5.2 percent is higher than the national rate.

Nevada suffered mightily from the COVID-19 pandemic as the jobless rate soared to 30 percent in April 2020. Florida also was hit hard as the unemployment rate rose to more than 14 percent in April 2020, while Missouri also suffered during that month with the jobless rate nearing 12 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Economic Data.