Where are Sevier Counties Rural Jobs Going?

Where are Sevier Counties Rural Jobs Going?

Sevier County ranks #6 out of the top 50 rural counties losing the most jobs in 2010.

RG Williams

The Valley Voice

an Grider sits at her kitchen table and scans the classifieds every day looking for work. The table is clean, but the space around it is cluttered, piled to the trailers roof with boxes, “From having to move all the time” sighs Janice. Noticeable on the table are an antique glass ashtray which is filled to overflowing with dirty, lipstick stained cigarette butts and ash. “That’s the real indicator,” says Janice, through a cloud of smoke “of how hard a time I’m having finding work. I swear I only smoke when I’m nervous.” Ms. Grider went on to wonder aloud, “I see tourists everywhere in Pigeon Forge, why do they bring in foreign students to work when myself, and people like myself need work?”

According to Bureau of Labor statistics, if you were to ranking every rural county in America based upon how many jobs were lost there from January to February 2010, Sevier County Tennessee would be #6. Only 5 counties in the United States experienced more negative job growth than we did. At a time when the majority of rural counties across the country experienced job growth, Sevier County lost 596 jobs giving it an unemployment rate of 15.4%- well above the National average, even for rural areas.

The labor Bureau reports that rural counties began adding jobs in February and, as a result, the unemployment rates in rural America dipped.

Unemployment in rural counties was still high in February, at 11.1%, far above the rural rate of 4.5% in October, 2007. But the rate was down slightly from the 11.2% rate in January.

The rural unemployment rate had been rising steadily since September, when the rate was 9.3%. In February, however, the nation added jobs, and rural communities got their share. Rural counties added more than 62,000 jobs from January to February, and in those same counties, there were 14,000 fewer unemployed.

Those job gains were not spread evenly across rural America, as the map shows. The green counties showed job gains between January and February. (The darker the green, the more jobs were added.) Red counties lost jobs.

Seven counties reported job gains of more than 1,000. They are Poweshiek County, Iowa (2,561); Oktibbeha County, Mississippi (2,316); Jackson County, Illinois (1,776); Madison County, Idaho (1,451); Portage County, Wisconsin (1,241); McDonough County, Illinois (1,069); and Dunn County, Wisconsin (1,043).

Two counties reported losing more than 1,000 jobs from January to February: Sussex County, Delaware (-1,230) and Lee County, Iowa (-1,015).

Oklahoma appeared to be leaking jobs in early 2010, as did rural Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Washington. Nearly two-thirds of all rural counties lost jobs between January and February.

Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and Louisiana all appear to be gaining rural jobs. Only about a third of rural counties gained jobs during this period, but the gains were large enough to offset the losses.

Exurban counties gained 31,000 jobs in early 2010. Two exurban counties gained nearly 3,000 jobs in the month. They are Centre County, Pennsylvania and Tompkins County, New York.

Urban counties nationally gained 301,000 jobs from January to February. Among urban counties, the largest job increases were in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), and Los Angeles County, California.