This morning the Bureau of Labor Statistics put out their Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for December 2010. The “quit rate” — how many people are walking out of their jobs — was flat for the month at the very low 1.5 percent rate, and still significantly lower than it’s been over the past decade. The quit rate for those with jobs plummeted during the the recession and it’s never recovered. And it’s remained stagnant even as there’s been some encouraging signs for the unemployed. Here is how the rate looks historically:

I also have a few friends — both employed and unemployed — who have been strung along by potential new jobs, and I imagine this is happening to many people. They hear a lot of “we’ll let you know soon” over the course of several months with no actual offer or hiring on the horizon. Again, think macroeconomics — the job hire rate also plummeted and has stayed flat recently.

The problem isn’t just that there are so many people who have been unemployed for over 99 weeks — the problems exist for everyone, even those with jobs.

Mike Konczal is a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.

Cross-Posted From The Roosevelt Institute’s New Deal 2.0 Blog