The industrial distribution of employment in the United States has undergone significant changes over the years. Once predominantly agricultural, the nation's workforce first shifted from farming to mining and manufacturing, and then from producing goods to producing services. The concentration...

Some observers contend that manufacturing activity in rural areas has been more adversely affected than in urban areas by foreign competition. It is true, of course, that the economies of some rural areas have been devastated by closing of key manufacturing plants. Even if plant closings were...