Monday, October 03, 2011

Rural unemployment rate below national average but not in far West or rural South

In August 2011, the rural unemployment rate, 8.8 percent, was below the national average of 9.08 percent and the urban average, 9.2 percent, Bill Bishop of the Daily Yonder reports. More than six out of ten rural counties reported  rates below the national average.

Most with low rates were in the Mountain West, the Upper Midwest or New England. The rural South and the West Coast again had the highest rates. To see unemployment rates for urban, rural and exurban areas of your state, click here.

Lower unemployment rates in the Great Plains and other areas may be attributed to migration, Bishop reports: "Fewer people, fewer to be unemployed." Likewise, high unemployment rates in the Sun Belt may be a result of relocations to the area. (Read more)

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