Rural unemployment rises again, at lesser rate

Job losses in rural America slowed dramatically in February, but unemployment jumped as more out of work people looked for jobs, the Daily Yonder reports. The unemployment rate for rural counties was at 9.8 percent in February, while exurban counties were at 9.2 percent and urban counties were at 8.7 percent.

"The most dramatic change in the employment picture in February was the slowdown in the nation’s loss of jobs," Tim Murphy and Yonder Co-Editor Bill Bishop write. "In January, rural counties in the U.S. lost 600,000 jobs. In February, those same counties lost only 3,308 jobs."

But the good news about slowing job losses was tempered by the rise in unemployment. "The number of unemployed in rural counties — that is, people who say they are seeking a job — jumped by more than 108,000 in February, and by 690,000 nationally," write Murphy and Bishop.

Click here to read the full story, see graphs tracking rural employment and to see a list of rural counties with the highest number of lost jobs since the beginning of the recession.