Employment and earnings in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) industries declined more during bad times and expanded less in good times than in metropolitan (metro) industries in 1979-86. Employment fell 0.5 percentage point a year in nonmetro areas during the 1979-82 recession, but rose each year in metro areas by 0.5 percentage point. Overall, real earnings declined during the recession, but dropped much faster in nonmetro industries: 3.5 percent a year in nonmetro industries compared with 0.9 percent a year in metro industries. The Midwest was hit hardest. Nonmetro industries improved only half as fast as metro industries during the 1982-86 recovery.