The Impact of the 1990\u27s Economic Boom on Less Educated Workers in Rural America

This study uses National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) data to investigate whether the effect of local labor market conditions on the earnings of workers differs by gender, education level, or metropolitan/nonmetropolitan location. The results suggest that local economic conditions in the late 1990s did have a positive effect overall on wages for men with no more than a high school degree and for women regardless of education. Further, there is evidence of a difference between metro and nonmetro labor markets, suggesting that the 1990s boom helped urban less-educated workers but not those in rural areas. The metro-nonmetro difference is most apparent for male workers