Monday, Apr 16 2012 4:17PM
Rural unemployment declined in February from the year before, but still remains high at 9 percent.
The rural unemployment rate fell one full point in February from a year earlier, but remained well above the rate in urban areas, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The report from the Labor Department shows the rural jobless rate finished February at 9 percent, down from 10 percent in February 2011. However, the rate remained higher than the urban unemployment rate of 8.7 percent.
Several rural counties in Arizona and New Mexico saw considerable drops in employment during the month, according to the government data. Other states in the West, including California and Washington, also saw poor job figures, as the jobless rate in both states was at least 11.2 percent.
The number of workers in rural and exurban areas in February increased by more than 200,000 from one year ago, the report indicates. However, slow rural economic development could continue to leave many rural workers jobless.
Some states are working to get additional funding for small business lending to help boost employment among rural workers. One such state is Nevada, which is using nearly $14 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative grants to hire more rural employees.
RCAC received a $4.3 million loan from the U.S. Treasury Small Business Lending Fund and a $231,000 capital grant from the Create Jobs for USA Fund, a collaboration between Starbucks and Opportunity Finance Network; both of these sources will be used as lending capital for RCAC’s
small business loans. RCAC will make direct loans to eligible businesses in California; participate in a California state guarantee program; and partner with Valley Small Business Development Corporation, an experienced small business CDFI lender in California’s Central Valley, for loans in that region.
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The Daily Yonder