A record of 4.43 million people in the US quit their jobs in September, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday.

While the number of Americans quitting their jobs came over 4 million for the third consecutive month, the latest figure is a 3.7% increase from almost 4.27 million in August.

Job openings in the US fell 191,000 from the previous month to 10.4 million in September, the Labor Department's survey showed.

While the market expectation for job openings was 10.3 million, the previous figure was around 10.6 million in August.

Total hires increased to 6.46 million in September, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

"Hires and total separations were little changed at 6.5 million and 6.2 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits level and rate increased to a series high of 4.4 million and 3%, respectively," the Labor Department said in a statement.

Job openings declined the most in state and local government education, by 114,000, but healthcare and social assistance saw the highest gains in openings, by 141,000.

The survey measures job vacancies by collecting data from employers about employment, job openings, hiring, and separations.


JOLTS considers job openings as all positions that are open, or not filled, on the last business day of the month that the survey is done./aa