Metro counties have 1% more jobs than they did at the start of the pandemic, but rural counties have 1% fewer jobs

Job loss or gain from July 2019 to July 2022. Map by The Daily Yonder, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

"Most cities have recovered the jobs they lost in the pandemic. Nationwide, there were 1.1 million more jobs this July than three years ago," Bill Bishop reports for The Daily Yonder. "But as the map above shows, the employment gains have been concentrated in particular regions of the country. Most U.S. counties – 53% – had fewer people working this July than in July of 2019 ... Nearly six out of 10 (58.4%) rural counties had fewer jobs this July than in July of 2019, before anyone had heard of Covid-19."

Overall, though metro counties had 1% more jobs in July compared to before the pandemic, rural counties had 1% less. "Rural counties would have to add more than 210,000 jobs just to get back to where employment was three years ago," Bishop reports.