About half of rural counties gained non-farm jobs in year since May 2018, but most new jobs went to largest cities

Job gains and losses, May 2018-May 2019; click image to enlarge it or here for interactive version. (Daily Yonder map)

About half of the nation's rural counties gained jobs between May 2018 and May 2019, but accounted for only 85,000, just 5.5 percent of the 1.5 million jobs added in that time. The rest went to urban areas, and six in 10 of the urban jobs went to cities with more than a million people. That's according to new figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which defines rurality based on the Office of Management and Budget's definition of Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

"Job losses are more widespread in rural America. Losses were more likely in the counties that are farthest from cities. Just over 40 percent of rural counties adjacent to metro regions lost jobs since May of last year. Over half of rural counties that aren’t adjacent to metro areas lost jobs last year," Bill Bishop reports for The Daily Yonder. "Job losses are more widespread in rural America. Losses were more likely in the counties that are farthest from cities. Just over 40 percent of rural counties adjacent to metro regions lost jobs since May of last year. Over half of rural counties that aren’t adjacent to metro areas lost jobs last year."

Since the BLS figures measure non-farming jobs, it's difficult to measure the impact of the trade war and terrible weather on the agriculture industry.