Rural Counties Losing Jobs Faster Than Cities

Rural Policy Research Institute
This recession has been harder on rural communities than the last two economic downturns. In this chart, 100 equals job totals at the beginning of each recession.

Rural America has lost more jobs, and at a faster pace, than in the previous two severe economic downturns. (See the chart above, which shows the percentage of job loss since the beginning of each recession.) In this recession, rural counties have already lost 3.4% of their jobs. In the 2001 recession, job losses mounted to just above 1 percent, which was higher than the recession of 1990-01.

Huge swaths of rural Amerca now have unemployment rates that far exceed the national average. (See the map here for unemployment rates in rural and exurban counties for January.) The chart above, produced by economists Sean Moore and Mark Drabenstott, tells us first that this recession is severe, deep and continuing.

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Rural Counties Losing Jobs Faster Than Cities
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