The Rural Recession

"In late 2008 and early 2009, the recession deepened, with national gross domestic product falling at an annual rate of 6.2 percent. Commodity prices also fell. Nonmetro unemployment rose from 5.2 percent in mid-2008 to 9.2 percent in mid-2009, while metro unemployment rose from 5.3 percent to 9.1 percent over the same period. Both metro and nonmetro areas suffered from the contraction of manufacturing, retail, and other sectors. The overall pace of employment decline, however, was greater in metro areas (-3.8 percent) than in nonmetro areas (-3.0 percent)."

The study analyzed data from the one-year period between the second quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009.