Unemployment in rural America down from June 2009, but so is number of jobs

The unemployment rate for rural America in June was lower than in June of 2009, making it the first month so far in 2010 with a lower rate than the previous year. The June 2010 unemployment rate for the country's 2,038 rural counties was 9.5 percent, down from 9.9 percent in June 2009. However, only 772 rural counties,. 38 percent of the total, actually added jobs in the last year, Bill Bishop and Roberto Gallardo report in the Daily Yonder.

"In total, there are 367,000 fewer jobs in rural America this June than in June of last year," the Yonder writes. "There are fewer jobs, but there are also fewer rural residents looking for jobs — 147,000 fewer this June than in 2009. As a result, the unemployment rate is going down." Bishop and Gallardo say they don't know why fewer rural Americans are looking for jobs, but speculate that some may have moved to urban areas while others have given up the search altogether. The rural counties that did gain jobs are concentrated in the Midwest, with 10 of the top 50 counties in job gains being located in Indiana. (Read more) (Yonder map)