A marquee at Dairy Queen advertises hiring along Island Avenue on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Eastern Oregon unemployment rates have dropped for the fifth consecutive month, even as the leisure and hospitality industries struggle to return to their pre-pandemic levels.  

SALEM — Approximately 58,000 Oregonians handed in their notice in August, according to federal data, up 18% in a single month and near an all-time high. Three times more Oregonians quit their jobs that month than were fired or laid off, double the average ratio over the past decade.

Many of Oregon’s quitters are leaving for other jobs, but state data for September shows that more than 11,000 of them weren’t. They weren’t retiring, either, or taking time off to stay home with the kids.

They just quit. The number of people quitting without new jobs is soaring at Oregon’s fastest rate in at least two decades, up 40% since July.

There’s no definitive explanation for Oregon’s sudden exodus. But Gail Krumenauer, economist at the Oregon Employment Department, sees some clues.

The number of Oregonians quitting their jobs actually started picking up in the spring, just as job openings jumped as pandemic-era business restrictions eased.

With employers advertising $2,000 signing bonuses, raising their wages and advertising for workers on TV, Krumenauer said workers realize there’s another job — and maybe a better one — waiting for them if they walk away from their current post.

“I am confident that this is one of those times when you’re going to be able to jump back into the labor force and find a job,” she said.

While Oregon doesn’t have data on which industries are shedding the most workers, Krumenauer said, national figures show hospitality workers were more than twice as likely to leave their jobs as workers overall.

Even with the increase in quitting, the total number of people leaving their jobs is still a little below where it was in 2019.

At the least, Krumenauer said, the sharp increase in people leaving their jobs suggests more workers are feeling good about the economy.

“It’s generally been a healthy sign when quits are going up,” she said.