Excerpt from the article: Recent research in the Economic Development Division, ESCS, shows that the annual rate of job growth from 1967 to 1971, when the interstate system was nearing completion, was higher in rural counties with interstates than in noninterstate counties. This occurred in all regions of the country. After completion of the system, however, a general reversal in the pattern of job growth occurred in favor of counties not directly served by the interstates.