The quits rate fell slightly in June, the latest available, to 2.7%, which represents 3.9 million workers.
Quits rate isn’t available on the state level, just by census region. In the South, including Virginia, the rate was 3.0% in June.
In addition to the quits rate, COVID affects labor force participation.
Despite the strong demand for workers, the participation rate fell from 63.3% in February 2020 before COVID to a low of 60.2% in April 2020. It has climbed back to only 61.7% in August.
Some analysts question whether participation rates will get back to pre-COVID levels because of the number of people who have taken early retirement or stayed out of the workforce for fear of contracting the virus.
The participation rate should increase somewhat over the next few months as parents no longer need to stay at home as more children receive schooling in person and the extra federal unemployment insurance ends in September.
Part of the unknowns in the economic recovery is the difficulty in achieving herd immunity.
Herd immunity, which was expected to give consumers the confidence to return to pre-pandemic activities, appears to be illusive. With the more contagious delta variant, some medical experts now believe herd immunity will be reached if 80% or more of the population is either vaccinated or has antibodies from contracting COVID.
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