Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
Economic Change and Territories
We saw in Chapter 2 that agriculture does not influence the geography of
settlements in the US. Over 80% of the US population lives in a metropolitan area,
and agriculture accounts for about 2% of jobs. We also saw that demographic maps
changed rapidly (Chapter 5). These changes are explained in two ways: first, the
rapidly growing active population (Chapter 3) is strongly predisposed to geographic
mobility, and, second, job opportunities are distributed unevenly in the US. These
are the two points that are discussed in this chapter.
Understood in terms of employment, economic changes have obviously played a
decisive role in territorial dynamics over the long term. This chapter is devoted
primarily to economic growth occurring between 1970 and 2000, and measured in
terms of employment. The analysis pays particular attention to industrial change and
internal migrations, focusing on recent movements measured between 1995 and
2005.
6.1. A changing economy
The US economy has shown a remarkable capacity to create jobs. According to
estimates of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were just under 135 million
jobs in the United States in July 2000. Estimates made in July 2007, just before the
current economic crisis, mention 146 million jobs. Despite the disparity of sources,
the census estimates the annual rate of job creation between 1970 and 2000 at 1.8%,
while BLS statistics report that employment grew at an annual rate of 1.2% between
2000 and 2007. Job growth, however, is not random and some regions and cities are
