Rural counties still doing a bit better on jobs than nation as a whole, but lag in job creation

Rural America followed the rest of the nation last month in showing slightly higher employment, but there were significant areas of job losses, including the Northeast and the Southwest, according to county-by-county Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by the Daily Yonder. (Click on map or link below for larger version)

Unemployment in rural counties continued to be lower than nationwide, at 8.5 percent, down from 8.8 percent in August. However, "Rural counties lagged metro and exurban counties in terms of job creation in the last 12 months, according to BLS," Yonder Co-Editor Bill Bishop writes.

The Yonder story also features tables of the 50 counties that lost the most jobs in the last year and the 50 that gained the most jobs. For the story and charts, go here.