In 2004, the U.S. economic recovery that began in November
2001 became broad-based, with most domestic sectors exhibiting moderate
to strong growth. Construction, especially residential construction,
and strong housing markets boosted overall economic growth. In addition,
low inflationary expectations, low interest rates, and weak credit
demand by businesses produced the lowest mortgage rates since the
early 1960s. In nonmetro areas, homeownership
rates have reached record highs, continuing to exceed metro
rates for most households. The strong housing market raised demand
for building materials, contributing to job gains in nonmetro areas
where many plants are located.
Nonmetro as well as metro areas, however, continue to struggle with
soft labor markets. After more than 2 years of economic expansion,
hiring has been slow to recover. The nonmetro
unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.8 percent in 2003, from
5.6 percent in 2002. The metro unemployment rate also rose slightly
(to 6.0 percent in 2003 from 5.8 percent in 2002). Between 2002
and 2003, average weekly earnings fell 0.5 percent (to $555) in
nonmetro areas, and 0.3 percent (to $699) in metro areas, after
adjusting for inflation. But 2004 has brought some job growth, with
increases in some manufacturing jobs for the first time since 1998.
Between April 2000 and July 2003, nonmetro America added
580,000 people, averaging 0.4 percent population growth per year.
This is lower than the current metro growth rate (1.3 percent) and
half the nonmetro average during the "rural rebound" of
the 1990s. Still, in 2002-03, the annual nonmetro growth rate rose
from the previous year, the first such increase since 1994-95, possibly
indicating that the nonmetro population downturn may have ended.
Rapid population growth in some nonmetro counties, especially those
adjacent to metro areas, is due to migration.
But even as some counties gain population, others lose population.
Around
600 nonmetro counties lost population during the 1990s, and
well over 1,000 nonmetro counties have lost population since 2000.
Population loss affects all regions, but is particularly widespread
in the Great Plains.
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