A rural non-profit website has found that urban areas are experiencing job growth rates twice that of rural places.
The Daily Yonder analysis states Weakley County in Tennessee had one of the nation’s highest job loss rates at more than 11 percent. Nationally, the average county had a job growth rate of one and a half percent.
But Weakley County Economic Development Board President and CEO Ronnie Price says he cannot recall any major job losses.
“We’re not growing or seeing the projects or the growth that the Nashville area, for example, is seeing, or the Chattanooga area,” he said. “And I think that’s kinda that way all across the country. The urban areas are growing faster.”
Price says he thinks that fluctuation may be related to seasonal jobs at the area’s largest private employer MTD Consumer Group.
“They manufacture riding lawnmowers, and they employ during their peak season around 1,100 to 1,200 people,” he said. “In fact they’ve done an expansion that over the course of three to four years will add 225 new full-time positions. But they have about 400 seasonal workers who work 7 to 8 months a year during the peak times when they’re getting all their lawnmowers built for the new season, and they show up on our thing as unemployed.”
The county with the highest job growth rate was Todd County right above the national average. See an interactive map of counties and their job growth rates here.
