Overview
The Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room provides
information about the employment and earnings characteristics
of rural, or nonmetro, workers and places, as well as
education in nonmetro areas. The chapter on farm labor
contains information on the demographic and economic
characteristics of hired farmworkers, many of whom work
on farms in urban, or metro, areas.
Unemployment rates in nonmetro areas are similar on
average to rates in metro areas, though with wide geographic
variation. Average earnings, however, are substantially
lower among nonmetro workers, as are education levels.
The lower nonmetro earnings levels reflect lower shares
of highly skilled jobs and lower returns to college
degrees in nonmetro labor markets.
Features
Profile of Hired Farmworkers,
A 2008 Update—Hired farmworkers make up a third of
the total agricultural labor force and are critical to U.S.
agricultural production, particularly in labor-intensive sectors
such as fruits and vegetables. The 2008 update provides expanded
sections on legal status, poverty, housing, and use of social
services. See also the related Amber Waves feature article,
Hired
Farmworkers a Major Input for Some U.S. Farm Sectors.
 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. See all
At A Glance reports in the series, including reports on education
and rural Hispanics.
Education
as a Rural Development Strategy—Educational attainment
in rural America reached a historic high in 2000, with nearly
one in six rural adults holding a 4-year college degree, and
more than three in four completing high school. As the demand
for workers with higher educational qualifications rises, many
rural policymakers have come to view local educational levels
as a critical determinant of job and income growth in their communities.
This Amber Waves article examines the relationship between
workforce education and economic growth, and the questions faced
by policymakers.
Recommended Readings
Low-Skill Employment and the Changing
Economy of Rural America—The share of rural jobs classified
as low-skill fell by 2.2 percentage points between 1990 and 2000,
twice the decline of the urban low-skill employment share, but
much less than the decline of the 1980s. Employment shifts from
low-skill to skilled occupations within industries, rather than
changes in industry mix, explain virtually all of the decline
in the rural low-skill employment share. The share decline was
particularly large for rural Black women, many of whom moved
out of low-skill blue-collar work into service occupations, while
the share of rural Hispanics who held low-skill jobs increased.
The
Role of Education: Promoting the Economic and Social Vitality
of Rural America  —This
publication reports findings from a 2003 conference on rural
education and economic development sponsored by ERS, the Southern
Rural Development Center (SRDC), and the Rural School and Community
Trust. Offering insight into the important and often fragile
relationship between rural schools and communities in America,
the report comprises nine articles divided into three area-specific
sections: (1) Education, Human Capital and the Local Economy,
(2) Links Between Rural Schools and Communities, and (3) Creating
Successful Rural Schools and Students.
 Meat-Processing
Firms Attract Hispanic Workers to Rural America—Over the
past 40 years, the U.S. meat-processing industry has been transformed
by changing consumer preferences for meat products, which helped trigger
a consolidation within the industry and a relocation of processing
plants to rural areas. Bucking trends in the manufacturing sector,
meat processing has gained employment. Rapid population growth and
geographic dispersion of Hispanics since the 1990s has helped meet
the labor needs of rural-based meat-processing plants and altered
rural communities.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
State and County Education Data—State-
and county-level education data from the 1970, 1980, 1990, and
2000 Censuses of Population. Compare and rank States or counties
in a State on any one of four levels of educational attainment.
The data can be downloaded in Excel spreadsheets.
County-level Unemployment
and Median Household Income—State- and county-level
unemployment rates for the latest 6 years, and the
latest median household income figures for States
and counties. Sort and rank States, and the counties
within a State on these indicators; view a county's
income as a percentage of the State's income. Data
come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the
U.S. Census Bureau.
Farm and Farm-Related
Employment—Estimates of farm and farm-related
employment by State, farm production region, and farm
resource region provide valuable information about the
importance of agriculture in various geographic areas
of the country. Farm and farm-related industries, such
as farm production, processing and marketing of agricultural
goods, and agricultural wholesale and retail trade, are
generally identified as industries having 50 percent or
more of their national workforce employed in providing
goods and services necessary to satisfy the final demand
for agricultural products.
Related Briefing Rooms
Related Links
Bureau of Economic Analysis—Provides
annual employment and income data for counties, States, and regions.
Bureau of Labor Statistics—A
comprehensive source for Federal labor-related data and publications.
National Center for Education
Statistics—The official Federal site for information
on the Nation's education systems.
Maps and Images Gallery
Rural Gallery—Charts
and maps depict information on rural indicators, including population
and migration; labor and education; income, poverty, and welfare;
housing; and industry.
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