It's no secret that when the labor market starts thriving, people have a much easier lifestyle and are more likely to quit their jobs. Well, it turns out that people are as likely to quit on their marriages when the labor market is healthy, the Atlantic reported.

After dwindling during the recession, the number of Americans filing for divorce rose for the third straight year in 2012.

According to Bloomberg, that jump is a slightly sour sign today that our finances and lives are collectively returning to normal.

"When the economy tanks, people tend to avoid major, potentially expensive life changes, such as getting married or having children," the Atlantic reported. "The same goes for getting divorced. Lawyers cost money. Many couples want to sell off their house when they split, which is tough when the real estate market is a wreck."

The Atlantic continued, "And when unemployment is high, it's more difficult for stay-at-home wives to find jobs to support themselves in their new single lives."

Rather than bidding each other goodbye, spouses stick it out in their unsatisfying relationships during tough times.

According to a 2013 paper by the University of Arizona's Jessamyn Schaller, quoted by Bloomberg, a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate correlates with a 1.7 percent fall in the divorce rate. 

"Another study, by researchers at the Universities of Maryland and North Carolina, suggests that recessions are especially likely to stop women without a college education from ending their marriages, potentially because they'd have the most trouble landing work or finding money for a lawyer," the Atlantic reported.

So strangely, next time there is an uptick in unhappy endings, it only means good news for the rest of us.

"As the economy normalizes, so too do family dynamics," Mark Zandi , chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told Bloomberg today. "Birth rates and divorce rates are rising. We may even see them rise strongly in the next couple of years, as households who put off these life-changing events decide to act."

They don't call the economics the dismal science for nothing, the Atlantic reported.