A record number of workers in the United States quit their jobs in November, according to the Department of Labor’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary.

The month saw 4.53 million people quit their jobs, up from 4.2 million in October and equivalent to 3 percent of the US workforce. Nearly 7 percent of restaurant and bar workers changed or quit their jobs in November, as did 4.4 percent of retail workers and 3 percent of health care workers; these numbers precede the Omicron wave that is now spreading across the country.

As for hiring, there were 10.56 million job openings, a slight decline from prior months but still high by historical standards (6.9 million people are currently classified as “unemployed”). Hiring was up, with 6.7 million people hired in November, well above the quits, meaning more people are in the workforce than in prior periods (though others have left it entirely, retiring during the pandemic earlier than they might have otherwise planned). While many people are switching sectors — especially health care workers, who have been leaving the sector in droves, ground down by inadequate wages and unsustainable workloads — the latest numbers show that even in leisure and hospitality, another area with a high “switch” rate, hiring is up above quits, suggesting some quitters are finding better jobs within the sector.