The Great Recession and Labor Market Inequality across Counties, States, and the Metropolitan/Non-metropolitan Divide

• In Event: 574 - Section on Sociology of Population Paper Session. Demographic Consequences of Economic Crises

Abstract

The Great Recession was the most severe economic downturn in the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Precipitous declines in housing and financial markets triggered a crisis that adversely affected the economic welfare of nearly all Americans, and spurred other social that are likely to have significant consequences well into the future. This paper contributes to a growing body of social science research on the Great Recession by addressing a straightforward but previously unanswered set of questions about the recession, labor market outcomes (i.e., unemployment rates), and spatial inequality. First, how did the Great Recession affect between-county labor market inequality across the U.S.? Second, to what degree can aggregate (i.e., national-level) changes in between-county inequality can explained by changing inequality between and within (a) metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas and (b) states? Third, what county characteristics (i.e. structural factors) were associated with vulnerability (resilience) to the recession with respect to unemployment? I address these questions using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics, the Decennial Census, and the Census Bureau’s County Business Pattern records. The analyses presented provide insight into how variation in the Great Recession’s impact contributed to changes in between-county labor market inequality across the county, as well as inequality within and between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas and states. It also investigates the social mechanisms underlying observed aggregate changes in inequality by identifying county-level factors that explain why certain counties were more affected by the recession than others with respect to unemployment.

Author

• Brian Thiede, Cornell University