What does it mean that job leavers increased by 142,000 in December?

[Quixote1818]

Is this part of why there was 300,000 new jobs? A lot more people leaving the workforce and making room for those who were looking? Even if they are looking for another job? So really it makes the 300,000 look a lot better than it is?

Snip:

Among the unemployed, the number of job leavers increased by 142,000 in December to
839,000. Job leavers are unemployed persons who quit or otherwise voluntarily left
their previous job and immediately began looking for new employment. (See table A-11.)

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

[mathematic]

1. It means the job market is so hot people will quit their jobs

Even if they don't have one lined up. It's another sign that the economy is doing great. These types of job leavers also serve to increase wages, efficiency, and job satisfaction across the economy.

Think about a person "stuck" in a job they hate and are ill-suited for. This is bad for the worker, bad for the employer, and bad for the economy in general. When the economy is doing good, like it is now, fewer people are "stuck" in a job like that. They just quit and look for a better one.

Also the 300k increase in jobs is a net figure. It's the # of new jobs minus the # of lost jobs. There were far more than 300k people that got jobs.

[Quixote1818]

2. They are still saying there is significant evidence of a global economic slowdown

Snip:

"Employment is a lagging economic indicator, and December saw significant evidence of a global economic slowdown," Ball State University Professor of Economics Michael Hicks wrote in an email to press. "This jobs report will signal to the Federal Reserve that continued monetary tightening is appropriate, and that the U.S. labor market remains a bright spot in an otherwise troubled economic environment."

https://www.hrdive.com/news/december-jobs-report-shows-rising-unemployment-unexpected-job-growth/545215/


Goldman warns a sharp US economic slowdown next year could see financial markets running 'scared'
Fresh signs of slowing global growth, and emerging pockets of weakness in the U.S., rattled financial markets last week.
And the sell-off continued Monday, with weaker-than-anticipated data from the U.S., China and Japan adding to mounting worries about the global economic outlook for 2019.
"We expect the U.S. to slow down to less than 2 percent by the end of next year and as a result of that you could see the market getting quite scared," Christian Mueller-Glissmann, senior multi-asset strategist at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC on Monday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/goldman-sachs-warns-of-a-sharp-us-economic-slowdown-next-year.html

[marylandblue]

3. Job leavers are still considered part of the work force as long as they are looking for jobs

And their jobs are presumably backfilled. The 300,000 are new, filled positions that did not exist the previous month. More people quitting signals a good economy because the quitters either have a new job already or are confident of finding one.