Economic Recovery Harder to Find at the County Level

Mike Maciag shares news of a report published by the National Association of Counties (NACo) that analyzes economic data at the county level on four measures: job totals, unemployment rates, economic output (GDP), and median home prices. The report found evidence that the country's economy is far from complete. Writes Maciag: "Only 65 counties (out of more than 3,000 nationally) have seen all four economic measures fully recover from pre-recession peaks. Nearly three-quarters of counties remain below their pre-recession employment levels, while economic output hasn’t recovered in 45 percent of counties."

The article goes on present some of the report's findings in terms of which counties recovered most completely in terms of region, size, and industry. The overall theme of the report is consistent: the economic outlook for most of the country is much bleaker than a recovery narrative backed up only with employment figures.