WASHINGTON D.C.: A recently released report has detailed how the August surge of the Covid Delta variant saw record numbers of Americans resign from their jobs.

The Labor Department said resignations rose by 300,000 to 4.3 million in August, equivalent to 3 percent of the workforce, which was the highest number of unemployed since December 2000 and up from 4 million in July.

The report also indicated that the number of available jobs dropped to 10.4 million, from a record high of 11.1 million in the previous month.

During the Delta surge in August, many more restaurant and hotel workers resigned, compared to the previous month, as well as those working in jobs serving the public, such as retail and education, increasing 21 percent, while resignations by retail workers rose 6 percent.

However, fewer manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehouse workers resigned, while professional and business services, such as law, engineering and architecture, where most employees can work from home, experienced minimal staff resignations.

On Friday, the government said fewer jobs were created for a second consecutive month in September, numbering only 194,000, despite the unemployment rate falling from 5.2 percent to 4.8 percent.

Resignations are usually a positive sign for the labor market, as workers tend to leave jobs when they already have other positions or are confident they can find new position. However, the rise witnessed in August is unlikely to reflect this trend.