Rural unemployment is catching up to urban

We reported here that job loss in the period from December 2007 to November 2008 was a predominantly urban phenomenon. That trend appears to be changing. "Reports from around the country over the past several days show that rural communities are catching up in this race that nobody wants to win," reports Bill Bishop of the Daily Yonder. "Rural communities that already have had rates of unemployment in the Yonder's November study appear to be getting worse. And regions that had minimal job loss are beginning to experience layoffs."

While North Dakota is a bright spot, with 3.1 percent unemployment, other rural areas are faring far worse. In eastern Oregon, the national decline in new home construction has hurt the timber industry resulting in unemployment as high as 16 percent in some counties. Rural Huron County, Ohio, now has that state's highest rate, 13 percent. "In North Carolina, half the state's unemployed in December lived in rural counties," writes Bishop. "More than 75 percent of the manufacturing jobs lost in the state last year were in the state's 85 rural counties." (Read more)