Discussion Paper

Who Is Supplying the Labor for Recent Employment Growth in the Rural Fifth District?

Abstract: Although many rural counties in the Fifth District have experienced population growth since 2020, total population has shrunk in rural areas. Rural regions in the United States have long experienced demographic squeezes as older people tend to stay in place and younger people migrate to metropolitan areas. But has the rural labor supply fared better since the COVID-19 pandemic? This post explores how changes in total population, out-of-the-labor-force population, and unemployment explain employment growth across the Fifth District's rural counties. In aggregate, rural counties have experienced modest positive employment growth since 2019, despite a shrinking total population. That growth has stemmed from rural areas that have pulled residents out of unemployment and into the labor force, which differs from urban areas whose employment growth has depended on population growth.

Keywords: human capital and labor; rural economy;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Regional Matters

Publication Date: 2024-06-20