Unemployment rates in the Plains state are lower than the U.S. average during the continued slow recovery from recession, says the Daily Yonder, which summarizes a USDA report on the matter. The report finds a number of strengths. Agriculture is a major industry in the Plains and it enjoyed a boom despite economic turmoil in the rest of the country. Meanwhile, manufacturing was less important to the region, so it did not suffer as much as the rest of the country from factory layoffs. The Plains have a comparatively high portion of college-educated workers, who fared better during the recession.
“And finally, there’s a more ominous reason for the relatively strong unemployment performance of Plains States. Those states also tended to be losing population,” said the Yonder, It posted a map to illustrate the difference in jobless rates at the county level nationwide.