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Low Skill Employment and the Changing Economy of Rural America

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  • Gibbs, Robert
  • Kusmin, Lorin D.

Abstract

This study reports trends in rural low-skill employment in the 1990s and their impact on the rural workforce. 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibbs, Robert & Kusmin, Lorin D., 2005. "Low Skill Employment and the Changing Economy of Rural America," Economic Research Report 33595, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersrr:33595
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.33595
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. W. Richard Goe & Anirban Mukherjee, 2013. "The implications of corn-based ethanol production for non-metropolitan development in the North Central region of the US," Chapters, in: Gary Paul Green (ed.), Handbook of Rural Development, chapter 12, pages i-ii, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Marre, Alexander W., 2009. "Rural Out-Migration, Income, and Poverty: Are Those Who Move Truly Better Off?," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49346, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Georgeanne Artz & Li Yu, 2011. "How ya Gonna Keep ’em Down on the Farm," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(4), pages 341-352, November.
    4. Brian C. Briggeman, 2011. "The importance of off-farm income to servicing farm debt," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 96(Q I).
    5. repec:rre:publsh:v:37:y:2007:i:3:p:367-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Xiaodong Du & David A. Hennessy & William M. Edwards, 2007. "Determinants of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 07-wp454, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    7. Lori M. Hunter & Catherine B. Talbot & Dylan Shane Connor & Miriam Counterman & Johannes H. Uhl & Myron P. Gutmann & Stefan Leyk, 2020. "Change in U.S. Small Town Community Capitals, 1980–2010," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(5), pages 913-940, October.
    8. repec:rre:publsh:v:36:y:2006:i:2:p:140-62 is not listed on IDEAS

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