USA Today (12/03/14) Paul Davidson

Signaling a strengthening economy, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that close to 2.8 million Americans quit their jobs in September, marking the highest level since April 2008. Many workers in the health care, technology, and engineering fields are quitting jobs after only a few months, because high demand makes it easier for them to switch to better-paying jobs, says Indeed.com marketing chief Paul D’Arcy. “We’re hearing from candidates who have a pent-up desire to make a move,” says Tricia Sitelis, vice president of ManpowerGroup.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, adds that recent college graduates and other young workers are leaving their jobs after finding better matches, having taken jobs early in the economic recovery that did not fully utilize their skills or had low salaries. To retain workers, more employers are offering perks, such as leadership development courses, and increasing pay. According to Automatic Data Processing, annual pay raises rose 4.5% in the third quarter among private-sector workers who held the same job, versus 3.5% in the 2013 third quarter, but those who switched jobs achieved average pay raises of 5.6%.