Rural and exurban unemployment continue to drop and be lower than in cities

Rural unemployment continues to decline, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. "Two-thirds of rural and exurban counties had unemployment rate in October that were lower than the average jobless rate in urban America," Bill Bishop of the Daily Yonder reports. Rural unemployment was at 7.3 percent in October, and 6.9 percent in exurban counties, those that are in metropolitan areas but mainly rural in character. The urban unemployment rate was 7.7 percent. (Yonder map: lowest unemployment in dark green, highest in magenta)

Unemployment is probably lowest in the Great Plains because of the strong farm economy and the natural gas and oil boom in the region. The states with the 10 counties that added the most jobs since last October are, in order, North Dakota, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. North Carolina has the most counties in the top 50 for job creation, followed by Pennsylvania and Texas. The states with the top 10 counties that lost the most jobs since last October are Hawaii, Arizona, South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon and Washington. (Read more)