Rural America At A Glance, 2007 Edition

Rural America At A Glance, 2007 highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The brochure provides information on key rural conditions and trends for use by public and private decisionmakers and others involved in efforts to enhance the economic opportunities and quality of life for rural people and their communities.rural indicators, population growth, employment, rural unemployment, rural economy, nonmetro, metro, creative occupations, rural America, natural amenities, census data, educational attainment, college education, poverty, domestic migration, ERS, USDA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Rural America At A Glance, 2008 Edition

Rural America At A Glance, 2008 Edition highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The 2008 edition focuses on employment, poverty, population change, and demographic characteristics of nonmetro areas.Rural indicators, population, employment, rural unemployment, nonmetropolitan, nonmetro, rural economy, metro, rural America, census data, population growth, employment, unemployment, poverty, demographics, ERS, USDA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Rural Employment At A Glance

Rural Employment At A Glance is a six-page brochure that highlights the most recent indicators of employment and unemployment in rural areas. It documents changes and differences in metro and nonmetro employment growth, unemployment, earnings per job, and occupational mix, as well as differences across nonmetro areas by location and county type.employment, unemployment, metro, nonmetro, rural, urban, earnings, occupation, employment growth, unemployment rate, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries,

Rural America At A Glance, 2007 Edition

Rural America At A Glance, 2007 highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The brochure provides information on key rural conditions and trends for use by public and private decisionmakers and others involved in efforts to enhance the economic opportunities and quality of life for rural people and their communities

Skilled Metro Workers Get Highest Payoffs for Using a Computer at Work

Workers who use computers on the job receive higher wages, reflecting com- puter-specific skills as well as broader skills. Even after taking into account differences in personal and job characteristics, industry, and occupational skill levels, there is still a 10-percent premium for use of a computer on the job. This accounts for a small portion of the metro-nonmetro wage gap, since computer use is more common in metro areas. The payoff to using a comput- er on the job is higher for college graduates and for workers with more experi- ence, suggesting that computer skills may be of limited use to those who are otherwise disadvantaged in the labor market. Furthermore, this premium is only about 5 percent in nonmetro areas, while it is more than 12 percent in metro areas, suggesting that computer training will be of limited benefit to rural residents unless they are prepared to move to urban areas

Wage Premiums for On-the-Job Computer Use: A Metro and Nonmetro Analysis

An analysis of on-the-job computer use shows that such use is more common in metro areas than in nonmetro areas. A substantial wage premium, 10 to 11 percent, is associated with using a computer on the job, even after other job and worker characteristics are taken into account. However, this wage premium accounts for only a small proportion of the wage differences between metro and nonmetro areas. In nonmetro areas, the computer use wage premium is only about 6 percent. This suggests that computer literacy skills may only modestly advance the earnings of low-wage workers within their current occupations in rural areas

RURAL AMERICA AT A GLANCE 2006 Edition

From 2000 to 2005, the nonmetro population in the United States grew by 2.2 percent. International migration supplied nearly a third of the growth in nonmetro areas, and accounted for all nonmetro population growth in the Midwest. Growth was concentrated in nonmetro counties adjacent to metro areas. (Data on nonmetro areas are used in this report to describe rural and small-town America. The definitions of metro and nonmetro areas are discussed in the section on data sources at the end of this report.) The nonmetro population is aging, like the U.S. population as a whole, with implications for health care, housing, and transportation. Between 2000 and 2005, the nonmetro population 40-59 years old grew by 8 percent, while the nonmetro population under 20 years of age declined by 5 percent. Following a short recession between March and November 2001, and a subsequent period of economic growth without employment growth, the United States has undergone a broad-based economic expansion since 2003, with employment growth occurring in sectors representing more than 80 percent of total U.S. employment. As a result, U.S. employment grew between 2004 and 2005, particularly in the West and the metro South, and unemployment rates were the lowest since the 2001 recession. However, 46 percent of nonmetro counties were still below their 2000 employment levels in 2005. After a decline of more than 15 percent between 2000 and 2003 in both metro and nonmetro areas, manufacturing employment in early 2006 remained relatively stable for the third year in a row

Factors Associated with the Growth of Local and Regional Economies: A Review of Selected Empirical Literature

Thirty-five empirical studies of factors influencing business location and/or regional economic growth are reviewed. Differences in methodology among the studies are described, and several methodological issues are discussed. Regional characteristics that have been hypothesized to affect regional growth and/or business location are identified, and the results of these studies with regard to the effects of these regional characteristics are discussed. Few results are found to be consistent across studies. Some suggestions are offered about methodological issues and regional characteristics to be considered in future studies of regional economic growth and/or business location

Rural American At A Glance: 2013 Edition

Rural America at a Glance, 2013 Edition highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas. This year's edition focuses on the U.S. rural economy, including employment trends, poverty, and population trends