(C) Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural This story was originally published by Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Rural America’s Post-Pandemic Job Recovery Varies by Industry and Region [1] ['Sarah Melotte', 'The Daily Yonder', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Date: 2024-06-19 Rural America’s recovery from the job losses of the pandemic has been a lot like the recovery from the Great Recession — slow and difficult. Annual employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that in 2023, nonmetropolitan counties still had not quite recovered all the jobs they lost during the pandemic. Nonmetro counties were down 101,800 jobs compared to their pre-pandemic numbers, representing a 0.5% decline in employment. Metropolitan counties gained jobs compared to their pre-pandemic numbers, meanwhile. Small metropolitan areas had the smallest percentage increase, while medium-sized metro areas had performed the best. In 2023, small metros with fewer than 250,000 residents were up 184,800 jobs since 2019, a 1.35% increase in employment. Medium-sized metropolitan counties with populations between 250,000 and 1 million added 735,300 jobs between 2019 and 2023, a 2.32% jump in employment. In the nation’s largest cities with populations of over 1 million, employment increased by 2.19%, representing an additional 2 million jobs since 2019. Rural Counties That Depend on Recreation Recovered Best from Pandemic Job Loss Rural employment recovery from the pandemic varied by industry, with recreation-dependent counties experiencing the most growth and mining counties facing the steepest declines. Rural counties whose economies depend on recreation, tourism, or outdoor amenities like skiing and hiking gained 36,700 more jobs since 2019, a 1.25% increase in employment. Rural Park County, Montana, for example, saw a 14% increase in employment since 2019 and 4.3% increase since 2022 alone. Park County is located in southern Montana and borders Wyoming to the south, encompassing Custer Gallatin National Forest. Population increased in conjunction with employment growth in Park County. Between 2000 and 2020, the population of Park County grew by 1,500 residents, a 10% increase. In the most recent annual population estimates, Park County’s population was 17,200, an increase of about 300 residents over 2021, according to recent census estimates. The only other type of rural county to see a growth in employment since the pandemic were counties where government employment was a key part of the local economy. In rural counties where government employers like federal agencies, prisons, or public schools were the primary economic force, employment grew by 0.23% since 2019, a gain of 6,300 jobs. The other economic categories of rural counties had not returned to pre-pandemic employment levels. Rural counties where mining and natural resource extraction drives the local economy fared the worst compared to other industries. In 2023, mining jobs were down 2.36% since 2019, representing a loss of 32,000 rural mining jobs. Rural counties where manufacturing was the dominant industry lost 55,700 jobs between 2019 and 2023 a 1.18% drop in employment. Employment in farming-dependent counties, meanwhile, lost 9,500 jobs since 2019, representing a 0.74% drop in employment. In places where no single industry dominates the local economy, jobs dropped by 0.59%, a loss of 42,400 jobs, since 2019. The county economic types are based on categories created by the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). Pandemic Employment Recovery Varied by Region Rural counties in the Interior Northwest, including Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, have recovered the best from pandemic employment losses. Between 2019 and 2023, rural communities of the Interior Northwest added 37,500 jobs, a 4.62% increase in employment. Employment improved slightly in the rural South, where about 27,400 jobs were added to the economy, a 0.38% increase over 2019. Rural communities of the West Coast and Southwest remained relatively stable, only seeing slight decreases in employment compared to 2019. Employment decreased by 1,000 jobs in the West Coast and about 700 jobs in the Southwest, representing a decrease of 0.11% and 0.07%, respectively. Rural employment in the Midwest declined by 1.54% between 2019 and 2023, a decrease of 110,800 jobs. In the Mid Atlantic region, rural counties lost 34,000 between 2019 and 2023, representing a 1.66% decrease in employment. Rural New England counties fared the worst compared to other regions. Between 2019 and 2023, rural employment in New England dropped by 23,200 jobs, representing a 2.5% in employment. Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. 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