Unemployment Woes Hit Cities, Suburbs Harder than Most of U.S.

According to data analyzed by the Christian Science Monitor’s Patchwork Nation project, county-by-county data on recent unemployment trends highlight how the loss of manufacturing and white collar jobs are hitting urban and suburban areas particularly hard.

According to Dante Chinni, director of Patchwork Nation, the impact of the increasing unemployment has been felt harder in the communities that were booming when the economy was doing well or in those areas that were already struggling when the economic downturn hit.

Among the 11 types of communities that Chinni has been tracking the “Minority Central” communities, the “Monied ‘Burbs,” and the “Service Worker Centers” have all felt the brunt of the latest job losses.

“As things go bad for the Monied ‘Burbs areas, like if these professional cuts keep coming, these cuts among white collar workers and professional workers, it’s going to be bad for the economy as a whole because these are the folks that spend the money,” Chinni said.

Listen to Chinni’s full interview

For more on the Patchwork Nation project and how unemployment is impacting each of these 11 communities, visit the Christian Science Monitors Patchwork Nation Web site.