Job growth falters in rural counties

From August 2017-2018, the number of jobs in nonmetropolitan counties grew by less than 0.2 percent, compared to a growth rate of 1.1 percent nationwide. Rural counties that are located farthest from cities lost jobs over the year. Job growth in rural America continues to lag the rest of the nation, according to the latest data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the 12 months ending this past August, the U.S. added over 1.7 million jobs. But only 38,000 of those new jobs found their way to rural counties, according to a Daily Yonder analysis.