While the nation's economy continues its recovery from the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, rural America seems to be falling behind.
In terms of employment, urban areas have seen moderate growth over the past several years. By the second quarter of 2014, urban employment was slightly above where it had been in late 2007.
While urban employment rose by 5 percent between the second quarters of 2010 and 2014, employment grew by just 1.1 percent in rural America during that time. That is more than 3 percent below prerecession levels, according to the USDA's Rural America at a Glance: 2014 Edition. Employment losses were actually seen in some rural areas, including much of the South, Appalachia, Northwest and Mountain West regions.
Unemployment rates have followed similar trends in both urban and rural areas, up from 10 percent in late 2009 to just over 6 percent by mid-2014. In rural areas, however, this drop in unemployment rate was the result of fewer job seekers, not more jobs. Labor force participation declined from 62.2 percent to 60.6 percent over the past 4.5 years, causing the unemployment rate to drop several percentage points despite limited employment growth.
Age and outmigration have taken their toll on rural counties, as population and labor force participation have been on the decline for several years. Natural population growth is failing to offset migration away from rural areas. The exception is counties with oil and gas extraction, which have seen rapid growth in both population and number of jobs in the past few years.
Rural families are also dealing with a drop in household income. Nonmetro household median income was $41,198 in 2012. When adjusted for inflation, that number is 8.4 percent below the prerecession peak of $44,974 in 2007.
