Employment grew more than 1 percent in rural areas during the year that ended in the second quarter of 2015, according to a report released by the United States Department of Agriculture.

“Nonetheless, rural employment was still 3.2 percent below its pre-recession peak in 2007,” reads the report. “In contrast, urban employment rose nearly 2 percent in the past year, continuing a trend of consistent growth since 2011, and is now well above its pre-recession peak.”

• All racial and ethnic groups in rural areas saw an increase in poverty rates from 2007 to 2009, but the Hispanic rate increased most (2.4 percent), followed by Blacks (1.6 percent). 
• Hispanics were the only racial/ethnic group in rural areas for which poverty declined during the recovery. Their poverty rate dropped 3.1 percent between 2009 and 2014, resulting in a lower rate in 2014 (27.5 percent) than at the start of the recession (28.2 percent).
• About a quarter of adults age 25 and over in the rural Black and Native American/Alaskan Native population, and 40 percent of rural Hispanics, have not completed high school or obtained a GED. These shares are considerably higher than for Whites (49 percent.)