2021 was the year of the quit: For 7 months, millions of workers have been leaving

• In October, 4.2 million workers quit their jobs — yet another near-record.
• In fact, for seven months of 2021, workers have been quitting at near-record rates.

It's quittin' time in America.

April was the $4 to raise eyebrows as a record number of workers quit and anecdotal stories began cropping up that businesses were having trouble filling open roles. It was unclear at the time if it was just a blip in America's economic recovery.

But then workers kept on quitting. In fact, they've now quit at near-record highs for seven months straight — over half of the year. In October, according to the $4 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.2 million Americans quit. That's a drop from the month prior, when a whopping 4.4 million workers left. That's 3% of the workforce in September and 2.8% in October. In any other moment, it would be a jaw-dropping number, but after the quitting tear of 2021, 4.2 million people leaving in one month now ranks as just the third highest rate this year.

With seven months of near-record highs, 2021 is officially the year of quitting. Workers in retail, leisure and hospitality, and accommodation and food services are leading the way in walking out. The millions of workers quitting shows how the post-vaccine economy is still $4, and suggests that the $4 — from $4 to $4 to $4 — $4 for people to stay in their roles.

"I think there is a possibility that we do see relatively elevated rates of quitting moving forward," Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed, told Insider. "We might see a slow down in demand, but there are lots of sectors of the economy where employers are really want to make hires."

Bunker said that 2021 has also been a story of demand, as the economy starts to recover. That's been fueling quitting.

"The question is, as we head into a new year and with this new Omicron variant hanging over us, what happens to demand?" Bunker said.

All told, over 38 million workers have quit their jobs during 2021. Some of those may be $4, leaving low-wage industries like food services for higher pay, and some may be the $4 who are still remaining on the sidelines.

Those millions of quitters are part of what's been termed the "$4," where workers are jumping ship from their jobs for higher wages, better conditions, or just different opportunities altogether. Indeed $4 a little over 1,000 people who "voluntarily resigned from at least two jobs since March 2020." 92% of those double-quitters said that "the pandemic made them feel life is too short to stay in a job they weren't passionate about."

Meanwhile, wages are still on the rise as employers seek to lure in and retain new workers, although economist Heidi Shierholz has pointed out $4 that wage growth in low-wage industries was still playing catch-up to gains it would've have seen barring a pandemic. Anecdotally, businesses $4 and keeping them high has helped retain workers.

Of course, it's important to note that some workers may be leaving due to continued $4 — an ongoing issue that's held back workers from reentering the labor force — or still have fears about $4.

But, when it comes to whether or not this moment of intense quitting will structurally change the labor market, Bunker said that that's "an interesting and open question."