This map shows the change in unemployment rates from October to November. Brown counties had rising unemployment. Blue counties have unemployment rates that fell. They are all rural counties. Click on the map to see a mega sized version.

[imgcontainer] [img:2010Novruralemp528.jpg] [source]BLS/Daily Yonder[/source] This map shows the change in unemployment rates from October to November. Brown counties had rising unemployment. Blue counties have unemployment rates that fell. They are all rural counties. Click on the map to see a mega-sized version. [/imgcontainer]

Where in rural America is unemployment rising?

Most everywhere is the quick answer. Unemployment rose four-tenths in rural counties in November 2010 (the latest month where county data is available). 

The map above shows all mainland U.S. rural counties. (See Alaska map after the jump.) Brown counties had unemployment rates that rose from October to November. Blue counties had unemployment rates that fell from October to November.

Click on the map to see a larger version.

The regional patterns are readily apparent: Unemployment was rising in the northeast, southeast, Kentucky and the Ozarks, the Upper Great Plains and the Northwest.

Unemployment was falling in the Deep South, Ohio, Nebraska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of Utah, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.

[img:AlaskaNovEmp.jpg]

Above is a map of Alaska with the same color scheme — brown shows unemployment rising, blue shows unemployment falling.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.