Tuesday, Oct 4 2011 4:07PM
The nation's rural unemployment rated dropped in August. However, the employment situation is still worrisome for rural areas throughout the country.
The nation's rural unemployment rate declined during August, the Daily Yonder reports, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
According to the news source, more than 60 percent of rural counties showed unemployment rates in August lower than the national average of 9.1 percent.
Rural communities in the Mountain West and New England areas experienced lower unemployment rates, BLS data from the New York Times indicates, while the rural South and West showed high averages.
Howard Wial, a representative of Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, told the paper residents in states such as Arizona, Nevada and California have minimal employment opportunities. However, because the job situation has been poor for so long, Wial said many consider the current market the norm.
As a whole, the West has the highest unemployment rate. The housing bubble collapse left Nevada with a 13.4 percent unemployment rate and California with 12.1 percent, the news source suggests.
Richard Kaglic, an economist with a Federal Reserve Bank, said that it may be a while until the economy fully recovers.
"The conditions we experienced in late 2008, 2009, are as close as you come to an engine-out situation in the economy," he said.
For further reference, check out this source:
The New York Times,
The Daily Yonder