One of the reasons American employers struggle to fill positions was clearly illustrated in a report released Tuesday: Americans are quitting en masse.

The Labor Department said resignations jumped to 4.3 million in August, the highest being in December 2000, and from 4 million in July. This equates to almost 3% of the workforce. Hiring also slowed in August, according to the report, and the number of available jobs fell to 10.4 million, from a record 11.1 million the previous month.

The data is helping to fill a looming headache in the labor market: hiring slowed sharply in August and September, even as the number of jobs posted was close to record levels. Over the past year, open jobs have increased 62%. Still, overall hiring, as measured by Tuesday’s report, actually declined slightly over that time frame.

The jump in departures strongly suggests that fear of the delta variant is partly responsible for the shortage of workers. In addition to work stoppages, fear of illness has probably caused many unemployed people not to seek or accept employment.

As COVID-19 cases increased in August, resignations skyrocketed in restaurants and hotels from the previous month and increased in other public jobs, such as retail and education. Nearly 900,000 people left their jobs in restaurants, bars and hotels in August, up 21% from July. Departures of retail workers increased 6%.

Yet in industries such as manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing, departures have barely increased. In professional and business services, which include areas such as law, engineering and architecture, where most employees can work from home, quits have been largely stable.

Other factors have also probably contributed to the increase in resignations. While many employers are desperate for workers and wages are rising at a healthy rate, workers have a much greater ability to demand higher wages or to go elsewhere to find it.

Data for August is probably too early to reflect the impact of immunization mandates. President Joe Biden’s term was not announced until September 9. United Airlines announced its tenure in early August, but was one of the first companies to do so. And layoffs remained unchanged in August, according to the report.

Some people would rather quit their jobs than be vaccinated against COVID-19 and argue about freedom or choice when refusing an injection. But we have had mandatory vaccinations in schools and in different industries for decades that have not generated significant protest, says Dr Alok Patel. “Where have all these people been for the past 20 years? ” he asks.

The government said on Friday that job gains were weak for a second straight month in September, with just 194,000 jobs added, although the unemployment rate fell to 4.8% from 5.2%. Friday’s hiring figure is a net total, after factoring in resignations, retirements and layoffs. Tuesday’s report, known as the Job Openings and Workforce Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, includes raw numbers and shows total hires in August fell sharply, to 6.3 million against 6.8 million in July.

The data “highlights the immense problems facing businesses,” Jennifer Lee, economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in an email. “Not enough people. Not enough equipment and / or parts. During this time, customers wait for their orders, or wait to place their orders. What a strange world this is. “

Departures have also increased the most in the South and Midwest, the government said, with the two regions experiencing the worst COVID outbreaks in August.

When workers leave, this is generally seen as a good sign for the job market, as people typically leave their jobs when they already have other positions or are confident they can find one. The sharp increase in August probably reflects some of that confidence among workers.

But the fact that the increase in quits has been heavily concentrated in sectors involving close contact with the public is a sign that fear of COVID has also played a significant role. Many people may have quit even without another job to take.

The sharp increase in job vacancies also has an international dimension: Job vacancies reached an all time high in the UK, although this was in part due to the fact that many European workers left the UK after Brexit.

Students of color can face toxic environments or discrimination when trying to get tech jobs, says Michael Ellison. He recalls talking to white peers who got jobs at their parents’ company – “You don’t come from a place where you have these kinds of relationships and social capital.” So Ellison founded Code Path, a group whose courses he says make students of color up to 40 times more likely to be hired at a large tech company.