Overview: Favorable Rural Socioeconomic Conditions Persist, but Not in All Areas; Low-Wage, Low-Skill Employment: Rural Low-Wage Employment Rises Among Men, Low-Wage Counties Face Locational Disadvantages; Population and Employment: Nonmetro Population Growth Rate Recedes in a Time of Unprecedented National Prosperity, Nonmetro Migration Drops in the West and Among College Graduates, Nonmetro Employment and Unemployment Trends Remain Favorable, Almost Half of Hired Farmworkers 25 Years and Older Earn Poverty-Level Wages; Earnings: Rural Nonfarm Earnings Increase in 1997, but Lag Urban Earnings Growth, Skills Training and Manufacturing Innovations Are Key to Raising Rural Workers' Wages; Poverty and Income: Rural Poverty Rate Declines, While Family Income Grows, Food Stamp and Family Assistance Benefits Sharply Decline in the Post-Welfare-Reform Era; Rural Well-Being: Unique Housing Challenges Face Rural America and Its Low-Income Workers, Prevalence of Hunger Declines in Rural Households; Appendix: Data Sources and Definitions; Appendix Tables
