The number of people leaving jobs climbed to the highest in more than five years in October, according to the Labor Department, another sign of a labor market gradually returning toward normal more than five years after the official end of the recession.

The number of people hired to new jobs was little changed from the previous month.

Some 4.8 million people left a job in October–including 1.7 million layoffs and 2.7 million voluntary separations–while 5.1 million began a new job. Along with last month, that’s the highest hiring level recorded since 2007, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS.

“Overall, the report is consistent with a gradually tightening labor market,” said Ian Shepherdson, the chief U.S. economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a research note. The report comes on the heels of the Labor Department’s November jobs report, showing the economy added 321,000 jobs last month, putting 2014 on pace to be the best year for job growth since 1999.