Wednesday, Sep 7 2011 12:35PM
The rate of jobless single fathers living in rural areas has increased since the recession, a new report shows.
According to a report by the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute, single fathers living in rural areas posted the highest rise in unemployment since the recession began.
The jobless rate for these residents increased nearly 11 percentage points to 23 percent last year, the report indicates.
"Although single fathers have high rates of unemployment, so do single childless men, and both groups experienced significant increases in unemployment during the recession," the report states.
The report also shows the average time unemployed residents have remained jobless was just shy of 23 weeks. However, researchers from the institute note many workers have been without employment for a considerably longer period of time.
The Carsey Institute recommends the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act to assist unemployed workers looking for new employment opportunities by offering counseling, job readiness and skills training and search and placement activities.
According to its analysis of jobless statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Daily Yonder reports the nation's rural unemployment rate in July was 9.1 percent.