DISPLACEMENT IN APPALACHIA AND THE 

NON-APPALACHIAN UNITED STATES, 

1993-2003: 

FINDINGS BASED ON FIVE DISPLACED WORKER 

SURVEYS

Stephen Herzenberg

Mark Price

Howard Wial

Keystone Research Center

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Contents

Executive Summary.........................................................................1

Displacement in Appalachia ............................................................3

Characteristics of the Displaced ....................................................................................3

Table 1. Three-Year Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, Appalachia ............................................................................. 4

Table 2. Three-Year Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, Non-Appalachian U.S. ....................................................... 5

Table 3. Demographic Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Appalachia .......................................................................................... 6

Table 4. Demographic Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Non-Appalachian U.S. .................................................................... 7

Table 5. Other Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Appalachia ........................................................................................................11

Table 6. Other Characteristics of Displacement, Non-Appalachian U.S. ............................................................................................13

The Displacement Experience ....................................................................................15

Current Labor Market Status ......................................................................................17

Table 7. Economic Situation of Displaced Full-Time Workers as of Survey Date ...........................................................................19

Table 8. Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, 

Rural and Metropolitan Appalachia and Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003...................................................................................20

Rural and Metropolitan Areas Compared....................................................................21

Appalachian Displacement by State.............................................................................22

Table 9. Displacement in Appalachia by State (Appalachian portion only), 1993-2003 ..............................................................23

Table 10. Economic Situation of Displaced, Full-Time Workers, as of Survey Date (Percent of All 

Displaced Full-Time, Workers in Same Cateogry) by State (Appalachian portion only) 1993-2003........................................24

Technical Appendix.......................................................................25

Geographic Coverage .................................................................................................25

Table A1. Metropolitan Areas identified within the CPS that fall entirely within Appalachia....................................................25

Sample Size .............................................................................................................26
ii Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Displacement Statistics Estimated...............................................................................27

Other Methods ...........................................................................................................27

Table A2. Weights for Regions Partly in and Partly Outside of Appalachia......................................................................................28

Table A3. Comparison of the Demographic Characteristics of the 

DWS Samples Defined with Logistic and Labor Force Weights............................................................................................................29

Notes ............................................................................................30

References.....................................................................................32
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 1

Executive Summary

In the 1990s Appalachia gained relative to the United States as a whole measured by per capita income and 

poverty (Pollard 2003, p. 18). Since the 2000 Census, however, the United States has experienced more difficult economic times, characterized by slow or negative job growth and a mushrooming trade deficit. One 

of the core reasons for the higher trade deficit has been rising imports from China, which compete with an 

increasingly broad cross-section of U.S. manufacturing (Shaiken 2004).

In Appalachia, and especially in rural and southern Appalachia with their high dependence on manufacturing, 

these new conditions pose daunting challenges for both laid-off workers and economic development officials. 

This report looks at worker displacement in the Appalachian region during the past decade. It uses the Displaced Worker Survey (DWS) conducted every two years by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(BLS) as a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). It relies on the past five DWS surveys, conducted in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Each DWS asks workers about displacement experience in the 

previous three years. Therefore, the research in this report covers the experience of workers displaced during 

the periods 1993-1995, 1995-1997, 1997-1999, 1999-2001, and 2001-2003.

Although Appalachia per se is not identified in the CPS or the DWS, this report is based on a constructed subsample that approximates Appalachia using the metropolitan and state geographic identifiers that are available. 

All displacement statistics in this report pertain to “long-tenure” workers with at least three years of tenure in 

the job they lost.

Analysis of the constructed sub-sample reveals that Appalachian workers experienced a similar rate of displacement to workers in the rest of the United States. However, Appalachia and its workers proved less resilient in 

the face of displacement than other U.S. workers, with lower shares of Appalachian workers re-employed, in 

the labor force or enjoying wage gains compared to their previous job. Appalachian workers’ lack of resilience 

may stem from the higher share of older, less educated, and long-tenured workers displaced in the region as 

well as a higher share of jobs lost due to plant closings. Our specific findings include:

• The overall displacement rate of long-tenure workers (with at least three years of experience) in 

Appalachia jumped from 2.7 percent in 1995-1997 to 4.1 percent in 2001-2003, compared with 2.9 

percent to 4.0 percent in the Non-Appalachian United States. 

• The displacement rate in Appalachian manufacturing more than doubled from 4.2 percent in 

1995-1997 to 9.6 percent in 2001-2003. Outside of Appalachia the rate for manufacturing doubled 

over the same period.

• Plant closings were a more common reason for displacement in Appalachia than in the rest of the 

United States from 1999-2003. Whereas 55 percent of displaced Appalachian workers lost jobs due 

to plant closings, the comparable percentage outside the region was 42-47 percent.

• Compared to displaced workers in the rest of the United States displaced workers in Appalachia 

were more likely to have been displaced from jobs that they held for a very long time. During the 

2001-2003 period nearly twice as large a share of displaced workers in Appalachia had more than 

20 years experience on their previous job as in the rest of the United States. Nearly one out of five 

displaced workers in Appalachia had more than 20 years experience on their previous job compared 

to just under one in 10 in the rest of the United States.
2 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

• During the period 1999-2003 as a whole the displacement rate for high school dropouts was at 4.1 

percent, twice the displacement rate among college graduates in the region (2.1 percent). In the rest 

of the United States high school dropouts and college graduates had similar displacement rates (2.7 

percent and 2.6 percent respectively).

• Appalachian workers who had been displaced during the previous three years were less likely to 

have been re-employed in 2004 than in 1998. In January 2004, 58 percent of Appalachian workers 

displaced during 2001-2003 had a job. In February 1998, 70 percent of Appalachian workers displaced during 1995-1997 had a job. The 58 percent re-employment rate of displaced Appalachian 

workers in January 2004 was lower than the Non-Appalachian U.S rate of 65 percent in the same 

month.

• Twenty-one percent of Appalachian workers displaced in the previous three years were not in the labor force at the time of the 2004 survey compared to 15 percent of Non-Appalachian U.S. workers. 

• Of full-time workers in Appalachia who were displaced during 1999-2003 only 16-17 percent 

were working as full-time employees again and earning the same or more money (taking inflation 

into account) at the time of the next survey. Between 38 and 40 percent were unemployed or not in 

the labor force, 6 to 8 percent were 

working part-time, and 36 to 40 

percent were in a full-time job earning less money (taking inflation into 

account). 

• Comparisons with the rest of the 

rural United States (Figure 1) reveal 

a higher overall rate of displacement in rural1 Appalachia during the 

1993-2003 period as a whole (2.3 

percent compared to 2.0 percent). 

Older workers (55 years and above) 

in rural Appalachia had an especially 

higher rate of displacement than their 

counterparts in rural areas outside of 

Appalachia (3.2 percent compared to 

2.5 percent).

• Over the entire 1993-2003 period 

22 percent of displaced full-time 

workers in Appalachia earned the 

same or more in a full-time job compared with 26 percent of workers outside Appalachia.

The DWS data reviewed here confirm the impression from anecdotal sources that economic restructuring 

over the past several years has been traumatic for parts of Appalachia, especially rural regions. With market 

pressures only likely to intensify, (in part because of the phase-out of the Multi-Fiber Agreement), the need 

to help parts of Appalachia dependent on low-wage manufacturing reposition themselves becomes that much 

more urgent. 

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Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 3

Displacement in Appalachia

The primary source for quantitative information on worker displacement in the United States is the Displaced Worker Survey (DWS), a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The DWS has been 

conducted in either January or February of every even-numbered year since 1984. Although the DWS does 

not include a geographic identifier for Appalachia it does identify each state, each metropolitan area, and the 

non-metropolitan portion of each state. 

Using the CPS geographic identifiers it is possible to identify a region that approximates Appalachia. (For 

additional detail on the methodology used to create the Appalachian sub-sample see the Technical Appendix.) 

The creation of an Appalachian CPS sample makes possible for the first time the analysis of displacement experience in Appalachia and the comparison of this experience with that in the rest of the United States. It also 

makes possible other analyses of Appalachia using the CPS.

The CPS defines workers as displaced if they permanently lost jobs because their plant or company closed 

down or moved, their positions or shifts were abolished, or there was insufficient work. In addition, to qualify 

as displaced, workers must not expect to be recalled in the next six months and not be self-employed at the lost 

job. Following the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) convention in analysis of displaced workers, the discussion 

below focuses on long-tenured workers—displaced workers who lost or left jobs they had held for 3 years or 

more. This report assumes that at least 3 years with the same employer denotes a substantial mutual commitment between employer and employee. Therefore, displaced workers as defined here are likely to be those who 

lost their jobs due to labor market conditions, not as a result of a “bad match” with their employer.

Since each DWS asks workers about displacement in the three years prior, this report uses three-year displacement rates which cover 

the full period about 

which workers are asked.2

Characteristics of the 

Displaced

Table 1 (page 4, see also 

Figure 2) shows displacement rates for Appalachia 

based on the Displaced 

Worker Surveys conducted in 1996 (covering displacements that occurred 

during 1993-1995), 1998 

(covering displacements 

in 1995-1997), 2000 

(displacements in 1997-

1999), 2002 (displacements in 1999-2001), 

and 2004 (displacements 

in 2001-2003). It also 

shows displacement rates 

using combined data for 

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4 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 1. Three-Year Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, Appalachia 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003 Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate All 359,076 3.6% 278,317 2.7% 317,038 3.0% 329,704 3.2% 420,413 4.1% 1,139,634 2.3% Gender Female 138,589 3.0% 116,835 2.5% 153,531 3.1% 141,064 2.9% 179,157 3.8% 495,449 2.2% Male 220,488 4.1% 161,482 2.9% 163,508 2.9% 188,640 3.5% 241,256 4.4% 644,185 2.5% Age 20-34 113,776 3.2% 61,486 1.8% 62,323 1.8% 73,094 2.3% 117,891 3.6% 261,478 1.7% 35-54 185,174 3.6% 163,063 3.1% 192,036 3.5% 185,355 3.4% 211,857 4.0% 639,529 2.5% 55+ 60,126 4.4% 53,768 3.5% 62,680 4.1% 71,255 4.4% 90,665 5.3% 238,627 3.2% Education Less than high school 34,918 3.2% 32,671 3.3% 41,880 4.1% 36,404 4.0% 49,106 5.9% 131,277 2.9% High school 152,207 3.7% 119,743 2.9% 142,890 3.4% 140,420 3.4% 175,691 4.4% 465,050 2.4% Some college 99,610 3.8% 83,165 2.9% 77,677 2.7% 102,437 3.7% 116,464 4.2% 324,199 2.5% College plus 72,342 3.3% 42,739 1.9% 54,591 2.2% 50,443 2.2% 79,152 3.0% 219,107 1.9% Race White 335,227 3.7% 251,895 2.8% 282,836 3.0% 277,452 3.1% 356,525 4.0% 1,012,008 2.4% Non White 23,850 2.2% 26,422 2.3% 34,202 2.9% 52,252 4.4% 63,888 4.6% 127,627 2.3% Industry Manufacturing & Mining 139,288 5.9% 94,218 4.2% 120,121 5.5% 178,456 8.6% 180,055 9.6% 388,140 3.9% Services 213,200 2.9% 182,560 2.3% 195,044 2.4% 143,583 1.8% 239,653 2.9% 478,971 1.3% Metro/Rural Metro 207,430 3.5% 176,224 2.9% 183,150 2.9% 194,653 3.2% 251,439 4.1% 680,711 2.4% Rural 151,646 3.7% 102,093 2.5% 133,888 3.1% 135,052 3.3% 168,974 4.0% 458,923 2.3% Note: Services includes transportation, communications, utilities, and construction. When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Before calculating displacement rates by industry in the pooled sample, data from 2004 (2001-2003) was excluded due to the switch in that year to NAICS. When excluding the data from 2004 workers in the 2002 DWS reporting displacement in the year prior to the date of the survey were added back to the pooled sample. The difference between the displacement rate in 1995-1997 (2.6 percent) and 2001-2003 (4.1 percent) is significant at the 10 percent level. The difference between the displacement rate in manufacturing in 1995-1997 (4.5 percent) and 2001-2003 (9.6 percent) is significant at the 10 percent level. The difference in displacement rates between workers age 20-34 and workers 55 and older is significant at the 10 percent level in 1999-2001, 2001-2003 and in 1993-2003. The difference in displacement rates between workers employed in manufacturing and mining and those employed in the service sector is significant in each year at the 10 percent level. The difference in Appalachia between the share of displaced workers who were non-white in 1993-1995 and in 2001-2003 is significant at the 10 percent level. Source: Keystone Research Center (KRC) analysis of Center for Economic and Policy Rresearch (CEPR) extract from Current Population Survey Displaced Workers Survey (CPS DWS). 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 5 Table 2. Three-Year Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, Non-Appalachian U.S. 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003 Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate Count Rate All 3,802,336 3.5% 3,288,965 2.9% 2,948,926 2.5% 3,627,560 3.1% 4,908,494 4.0% 12,797,394 2.3% Gender Female 1,667,405 3.3% 1,555,336 2.9% 1,354,250 2.5% 1,637,891 3.0% 2,139,872 3.7% 5,723,096 2.2% Male 2,134,931 3.6% 1,733,629 2.8% 1,594,676 2.5% 1,989,669 3.2% 2,768,622 4.2% 7,074,298 2.4% Age 20-34 1,085,803 2.7% 821,896 2.0% 625,739 1.6% 817,905 2.1% 1,097,640 2.7% 2,949,127 1.6% 35-54 2,153,841 3.9% 1,889,005 3.2% 1,713,784 2.8% 2,163,556 3.5% 2,808,863 4.5% 7,417,143 2.6% 55+ 562,692 4.0% 578,064 3.8% 609,403 3.7% 646,099 3.7% 1,001,991 4.9% 2,431,123 3.0% Education Less than high school 362,782 3.7% 337,365 3.3% 288,939 2.9% 288,232 2.9% 372,225 3.7% 1,061,288 2.3% High school 1,199,551 3.4% 1,108,501 3.0% 965,858 2.6% 1,256,251 3.4% 1,652,557 4.3% 4,294,457 2.5% Some college 1,300,787 4.0% 1,007,753 3.0% 933,263 2.7% 1,147,811 3.3% 1,438,848 4.0% 4,034,580 2.5% College plus 939,216 3.0% 835,347 2.5% 760,866 2.1% 935,266 2.6% 1,444,864 3.7% 3,407,070 2.0% Race White 2,924,812 3.5% 2,473,675 2.9% 2,152,650 2.5% 2,743,060 3.2% 3,370,597 3.9% 9,295,827 2.3% Non White 877,524 3.4% 815,290 2.7% 796,277 2.5% 884,500 2.8% 1,537,897 4.2% 3,501,568 2.4% Industry Manufacturing & Mining 1,154,556 6.1% 912,573 4.8% 949,049 5.1% 1,175,208 6.9% 1,548,752 9.8% 3,101,930 3.7% Services 2,568,305 2.9% 2,304,573 2.5% 1,909,055 2.0% 2,386,765 2.4% 3,283,881 3.1% 6,360,942 1.4% Metro/Rural Metro 3,157,543 3.5% 2,859,723 3.0% 2,437,031 2.5% 3,101,853 3.2% 4,272,775 4.1% 10,937,473 2.4% Rural 643,021 3.4% 425,036 2.3% 502,684 2.6% 518,048 2.7% 630,933 3.2% 1,839,796 2.0% Note: Services includes transportation, communications, utilities, and construction. When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Before calculating displacement rates by industry in the pooled sample, data from 2004 (2001-2003) was excluded due to the switch in that year to NAICS. When excluding the data from 2004 workers in the 2002 DWS reporting displacement in the year prior to the date of the survey were added back to the pooled sample.. Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS.
6 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 3. Demographic Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Appalachia 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003 Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent All 359,077 100.0% 278,317 100.0% 317,039 100.0% 329,704 100.0% 420,413 100.0% 1,139,634 100.0% Gender Female 138,589 38.6% 116,835 42.0% 153,531 48.4% 141,064 42.8% 179,157 42.6% 495,449 43.5% Male 220,488 61.4% 161,482 58.0% 163,508 51.6% 188,640 57.2% 241,256 57.4% 644,185 56.5% Age 20-34 113,776 31.7% 61,486 22.1% 62,323 19.7% 73,094 22.2% 117,891 28.0% 261,478 22.9% 35-54 185,174 51.6% 163,063 58.6% 192,036 60.6% 185,355 56.2% 211,857 50.4% 639,529 56.1% 55+ 60,126 16.7% 53,768 19.3% 62,680 19.8% 71,255 21.6% 90,665 21.6% 238,627 20.9% Education Less than high school 34,918 9.7% 32,671 11.7% 41,880 13.2% 36,404 11.0% 49,106 11.7% 131,277 11.5% High school 152,207 42.4% 119,743 43.0% 142,890 45.1% 140,420 42.6% 175,691 41.8% 465,050 40.8% Some college 99,610 27.7% 83,165 29.9% 77,677 24.5% 102,437 31.1% 116,464 27.7% 324,199 28.4% College plus 72,342 20.1% 42,739 15.4% 54,591 17.2% 50,443 15.3% 79,152 18.8% 219,107 19.2% Race White 335,227 93.4% 251,895 90.5% 282,836 89.2% 277,452 84.2% 356,525 84.8% 1,012,008 88.8% Non White 23,850 6.6% 26,422 9.5% 34,202 10.8% 52,252 15.8% 63,888 15.2% 127,627 11.2% Industry Manufacturing & Mining 139,288 38.8% 94,218 33.9% 120,121 38.1% 178,456 54.3% 180,055 42.9% 514,590 38.3% Services 213,200 59.4% 182,560 65.6% 195,044 61.9% 143,583 43.7% 239,653 57.1% 810,100 60.3% Metro/Rural Metro 207430 57.8% 176224 63.3% 183150 57.8% 194653 59.0% 251439 59.8% 680711 59.7% Rural 151646 42.2% 102093 36.7% 133888 42.2% 135052 41.0% 168974 40.2% 458923 40.3% Note: Services includes transportation, communications, utilities, and construction. When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Before calculating displacement rates by industry in the pooled sample, data from 2004 (2001-2003) was excluded due to the switch in that year to NAICS. When excluding the data from 2004 workers in the 2002 DWS reporting displacement in the year prior to the date of the survey were added back to the pooled sample. Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 7 Table 4. Demographic Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Non-Appalachian U.S. 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003 Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent All 3,802,336 100.0% 3,288,965 100.0% 2,948,926 100.0% 3,627,560 100.0% 4,908,494 100.0% 12,797,394 100.0% Gender Female 1,667,405 43.9% 1,555,336 47.3% 1,354,250 45.9% 1,637,891 45.2% 2,139,872 43.6% 5,723,096 44.7% Male 2,134,931 56.1% 1,733,629 52.7% 1,594,676 54.1% 1,989,669 54.8% 2,768,622 56.4% 7,074,298 55.3% Age 20-34 1,085,803 28.6% 821,896 25.0% 625,739 21.2% 817,905 22.5% 1,097,640 22.4% 2,949,127 23.0% 35-54 2,153,841 56.6% 1,889,005 57.4% 1,713,784 58.1% 2,163,556 59.6% 2,808,863 57.2% 7,417,143 58.0% 55+ 562,692 14.8% 578,064 17.6% 609,403 20.7% 646,099 17.8% 1,001,991 20.4% 2,431,123 19.0% Education Less than high school 362,782 9.5% 337,365 10.3% 288,939 9.8% 288,232 7.9% 372,225 7.6% 1,061,288 8.3% High school 1,199,551 31.5% 1,108,501 33.7% 965,858 32.8% 1,256,251 34.6% 1,652,557 33.7% 4,294,457 33.6% Some college 1,300,787 34.2% 1,007,753 30.6% 933,263 31.6% 1,147,811 31.6% 1,438,848 29.3% 4,034,580 31.5% College plus 939,216 24.7% 835,347 25.4% 760,866 25.8% 935,266 25.8% 1,444,864 29.4% 3,407,070 26.6% Race White 2,924,812 76.9% 2,473,675 75.2% 2,152,650 73.0% 2,743,060 75.6% 3,370,597 68.7% 9,295,827 72.6% Non White 877,524 23.1% 815,290 24.8% 796,277 27.0% 884,500 24.4% 1,537,897 31.3% 3,501,568 27.4% Industry Manufacturing & Mining 1,154,556 30.6% 912,573 28.0% 949,049 32.6% 1,175,208 32.6% 1,548,752 31.8% 3,101,930 32.3% Services 2,568,305 68.0% 2,304,573 70.7% 1,909,055 65.6% 2,386,765 66.3% 3,283,881 67.4% 6,360,942 66.3% Metro/Rural Metro 3,159,315 83.1% 2,863,929 87.1% 2,446,242 83.0% 3,109,512 85.7% 4,277,562 87.1% 10957598 85.6% Rural 643,021 16.9% 425,036 12.9% 502,684 17.0% 518,048 14.3% 630,933 12.9% 1839796 14.4% Note: Services includes transportation, communications, utilities, and construction. When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Before calculating displacement rates by industry in the pooled sample, data from 2004 (2001-2003) was excluded due to the switch in that year to NAICS. When excluding the data from 2004 workers in the 2002 DWS reporting displacement in the year prior to the date of the survey were added back to the pooled sample.at we added back to our pooled sample workers in the 2002 DWS reporting displacement in the year prior to the date of the survey. Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS. 
8 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

all surveys conducted between 1996 and 2004 (covering all displacements from 1993-2003). Table 2 (page 

5) contains displacement rates for the Non-Appalachian United States. Table 3 (page 6) displays the share of 

displacement in Appalachia accounted for by different demographic groups. Table 4 (page 7) does the same 

for the rest of the United States.

Changes over time. Earlier DWS research showed that displacement is more common during recessions than 

during economic expansions (Farber 2003) and that the post-recession displacement rate was generally higher 

during the 1990s than during the 1980s (Kletzer 1998). Displacement rates in Appalachia and the rest of the 

United States continued to fluctuate as expected with the change in the overall health of the U.S. economy. In 

Appalachia, three-year displacement rates dropped below 3 percent in the 1995-1999 period. They climbed to 

4 percent in the most recent three-year period (2001-2003). In the most recent three-year period, the displacement rate in Appalachia was more than a full percentage point higher than in 1995-1997.

Age, sex, race. Table 1 indicates that between 1999 and 2003 displacement rates in Appalachia were consistently higher for older workers (55 and older) than for younger workers (aged 20-34). This finding contrasts 

with earlier DWS research on the nation as a whole, which showed that workers aged 20-29 consistently had 

the highest displacement rates of any age group (Farber 2003). 

Over the entire period 1993-2003 the displacement rates for men in Appalachia were slightly higher than for 

women. The displacement rate was 2.5 percent for men and 2.2 percent for women. This difference is consistent with the displacement rates for men, 2.4 percent, and women, 2.2 percent, in the Non-Appalachian 

U.S. 

In both Appalachia and the rest of the United States whites and non-whites had similar displacement rates 

throughout the period examined. In Appalachia non-whites had lower displacement rates from 1993-1997 

but higher rates from 1999-2003. These racial differences in Appalachia, however, were not significant. 

Educational attainment. Comparing workers with different levels of educational attainment within Appalachia shows that less educated workers were worse off in terms of displacement than their more educated 

counterparts (Figure 3, page 4). 

• Over the entire period, 1993-2003 the displacement rate in Appalachia for workers with less than 

a high school diploma was 2.9 percent compared to 1.9 percent for workers with at least a college 

degree. (Earlier national DWS studies of the 1980s and 1990s also found that displacement rates fell 

as educational attainment increased. See Kletzer (1998) and Farber (2003).) 

• Comparisons of Appalachia with the rest of the United States show that Appalachia’s displacement 

rate was higher than that of the rest of the nation for workers with low levels of formal education. 

During the period 1999-2003 as a whole the displacement rate for workers without a high school 

diploma was 3.9 percent in Appalachia compared to 2.7 percent for the same group outside of Appalachia. 

Industry. In both Appalachia and the rest of the United States displacement rates of workers in manufacturing and mining (combined) far exceed those of workers in a group of other industries (here called “services”) 

that includes transportation, communications, utilities, and construction3 (Figure 4, page 4).The gap between 

manufacturing and mining and services is consistent with that reported in earlier analyses of the DWS (Helwig 

2001, p. 15. Schmitt 2004, p. 56). This gap, however, is much larger in the two most recent surveys than 

previously. Nearly one in 10 manufacturing and mining workers was displaced during the period 2001-2003, 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 9

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10 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

compared with about 3 percent of service workers.

These findings contrast with those of analyses of the DWS that covered the period from 1984 through the 

mid-1990s. Over the course of that earlier time period displacement became less concentrated in manufacturing (although it was still higher in manufacturing than in other industries) and the displacement rate in 

manufacturing was lower in the mid-1990s than in the 1980s (Kletzer 1998). This report finds that the 2001 

recession and the slow recovery that followed it reversed the earlier trend. 

The displacement rate in Appalachian manufacturing is similar to the rate for manufacturing outside of the 

region.

Demographic characteristics of displaced workers. Table 3 shows the share of displaced workers in each demographic category over time in Appalachia. Many of these shares are relatively stable. One exception is the 

growth in the share of displaced workers who were non-white4 (from 6.6 percent in 1993-1995 to 15.2 percent 

in 2001-2003, Figure 5). This sharp increase mirrored but was more rapid than the trend outside the region 

(23.1 percent in 1993-1995 to 31.3 percent in 2001-2003). The increase also reflected in part the more rapid 

increase in the minority population in Appalachia between 1990 and 2000 (50 percent increase in Appalachia 

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compared with 43 percent increase in the entire U.S.), including a tripling in the number of Hispanics in Appalachia (Pollard 2003, p. 13). It may also have reflected the concentration of minorities, including Hispanics, 

in some industries with high displacement rates.
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 11

Table 5. Other Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Appalachia

1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003

Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count %

Tenure on lost job

3-10 240,942 67.1% 171,598 61.7% 215,960 68.1% 208,913 63.4% 272,664 64.9% 734,555 64.5%

11-20 70,599 19.7% 52,784 19.0% 68,604 21.6% 66,407 20.1% 70,311 16.7% 213,862 18.8%

21+ 47,535 13.2% 53,935 19.4% 32,474 10.2% 54,384 16.5% 77,439 18.4% 191,217 16.8%

Why displaced

Plant closing 142,855 39.8% 126,100 45.3% 159,990 50.5% 179,890 54.6% 230,706 54.9% 595,809 52.3%

Insufficient work 98,132 27.3% 62,667 22.5% 55,969 17.7% 78,729 23.9% 90,947 21.6% 233,852 20.5%

Position abolished 118,089 32.9% 89,550 32.2% 101,079 31.9% 71,085 21.6% 98,759 23.5% 309,973 27.2%

Weeks without work after lost job 

0-6 weeks 143,772 51.8% 114,593 55.4% 134,612 57.8% 141,904 61.6% 122,956 47.0% 409,178 48.9%

7-13 weeks 42,658 15.4% 32,809 15.9% 46,761 20.1% 19,678 8.5% 41,779 16.0% 123,266 14.7%

14-26 weeks 45,124 16.3% 18,288 8.8% 20,851 8.9% 28,748 12.5% 34,402 13.1% 108,432 13.0%

27-39 weeks 13,928 5.0% 16,021 7.7% 8,573 3.7% 17,196 7.5% 17,611 6.7% 53,189 6.4%

40-52 weeks 21,752 7.8% 10,798 5.2% 17,290 7.4% 10,583 4.6% 27,063 10.3% 84,617 10.1%

53+ weeks 10,284 3.7% 14,261 6.9% 4,979 2.1% 12,236 5.3% 17,832 6.8% 58,479 7.0%

Received advanced notice

No 222,333 61.9% 164,714 60.0% 204,993 66.5% 187,954 58.1% 237,450 56.8% 685,792 60.7%

Yes 136,743 38.1% 109,640 40.0% 103,464 33.5% 135,397 41.9% 180,945 43.2% 443,927 39.3%

How much notice

<1 month 31,188 23.2% 19,754 18.5% 20,375 20.3% 29,716 22.7% 42,683 24.3% 83,810 19.3%

1-2 months 51,368 38.2% 30,952 29.0% 28,443 28.3% 40,166 30.7% 62,251 35.4% 153,485 35.4%

2- months 52,034 38.7% 56,190 52.6% 51,674 51.4% 60,971 46.6% 71,015 40.4% 196,121 45.3%

Received unemployment benefits 

No 163,023 45.4% 129,335 46.8% 152,194 49.3% 137,834 42.4% 161,730 39.0% 470,206 41.7%

Yes 196,053 54.6% 146,959 53.2% 156,659 50.7% 187,354 57.6% 253,210 61.0% 657,817 58.3%

Exhausted unemployment benefits 

No 107,795 55.6% 77,361 53.4% 84,856 55.5% 107,016 57.1% 132,008 52.7% 330,080 50.4%

Yes 86,243 44.4% 67,606 46.6% 68,156 44.5% 80,338 42.9% 118,481 47.3% 324,225 49.6%

Moved after job loss 

No 307,916 85.8% 248,392 89.7% 300,130 94.7% 291,208 88.7% 392,069 93.3% 1,010,070 88.7%

Yes 51,160 14.2% 28,481 10.3% 16,908 5.3% 37,225 11.3% 28,344 6.7% 129,000 11.3%

Moved, economic reason 

No 28,593 55.9% 7,137 25.1% 3,484 20.6% 15,745 42.3% 15,781 55.7% 62,592 48.5%

Yes 22,567 44.1% 21,345 74.9% 13,424 79.4% 21,480 57.7% 12,563 44.3% 66,408 51.5%

Have worked since lost job 

No 69,255 19.3% 64,850 23.4% 72,298 22.8% 93,384 28.4% 152,049 36.2% 271,067 23.8%

Yes 289,821 80.7% 212,588 76.6% 244,740 77.2% 235,050 71.6% 268,364 63.8% 868,568 76.2%

Number of Jobs Since Displacement 

0 69,255 19.5% 64,850 24.1% 72,298 23.1% 93,384 28.8% 152,049 36.6% 271,067 24.0%

1 214,031 60.2% 162,615 60.4% 167,988 53.7% 178,510 55.0% 197,752 47.7% 606,300 53.7%

2 37,709 10.6% 20,104 7.5% 52,572 16.8% 38,766 12.0% 42,782 10.3% 159,277 14.1%

3+ 34,516 9.7% 21,531 8.0% 20,046 6.4% 13,729 4.2% 22,341 5.4% 91,467 8.1%

continued
12 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 5. Other Characteristics of Displaced Workers, Appalachia (cont’d)

1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003

Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count %

Labor Force Status all displaced workers

Employed 254,146 70.8% 194,975 70.1% 221,404 69.8% 209,066 63.4% 244,396 58.1% 775,151 68.0%

Unemployed 39,461 11.0% 36,553 13.1% 48,166 15.2% 60,306 18.3% 86,675 20.6% 144,370 12.7%

Not In Labor Force 65,469 18.2% 46,789 16.8% 47,468 15.0% 60,332 18.3% 89,342 21.3% 220,113 19.3%

Note: When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or 

less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. The difference in Appalachia between the share of displaced workers 

who moved after job loss is significant at the 10 percent level in 1997-99, 2001-03, and when pooling observations between 1993-03. The difference 

in Appalachia between the share of workers in 2001-2003 who have not worked since displacement and the same share in 1993-1995, 1995-1997, 

1997-1999 is significant at the 10 percent level. In 2001-2003, the difference in the share of all displaced workers employed at the time of the survey 

in Appalachia when compared to the same share in 1993-1995, 1995-1997 and 1997-1999 is significant at the 10 percent level.

Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 13

Table 6. Other Characteristics of Displacement, Non-Appalachian U.S. 

1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003

Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count %

Tenure on lost job

3-10 2,743,237 72.1% 2,324,671 70.7% 2,025,693 68.7% 2,603,948 71.8% 3,540,752 72.1% 9,062,654 70.8%

11-20 687,473 18.1% 676,069 20.6% 637,508 21.6% 715,511 19.7% 887,077 18.1% 2,557,143 20.0%

21+ 371,626 9.8% 288,226 8.8% 285,726 9.7% 308,102 8.5% 480,665 9.8% 1,177,597 9.2%

Reason displaced 

Plant closing 1,680,645 44.2% 1,557,939 47.4% 1,449,308 49.1% 1,690,760 46.6% 2,065,796 42.1% 5,960,794 46.6%

Insufficient work 911,235 24.0% 693,760 21.1% 650,286 22.1% 927,683 25.6% 1,416,805 28.9% 3,054,623 23.9%

Position abolished 1,210,457 31.8% 1,037,267 31.5% 849,332 28.8% 1,009,116 27.8% 1,425,892 29.0% 3,781,976 29.6%

Weeks without work since displaced 

0-6 weeks 1,538,167 52.9% 1,417,100 54.2% 1,347,157 60.9% 1,447,293 58.6% 1,519,642 46.0% 4,790,215 48.8%

7-13 weeks 496,258 17.1% 374,184 14.3% 336,197 15.2% 403,857 16.4% 504,393 15.3% 1,507,471 15.4%

14-26 weeks 428,266 14.7% 390,930 15.0% 267,502 12.1% 356,581 14.4% 540,349 16.4% 1,565,950 16.0%

27-39 weeks 139,087 4.8% 144,167 5.5% 81,001 3.7% 122,780 5.0% 240,740 7.3% 598,201 6.1%

40-52 weeks 183,005 6.3% 168,889 6.5% 126,303 5.7% 86,860 3.5% 278,316 8.4% 787,980 8.0%

53+ weeks 120,886 4.2% 118,688 4.5% 54,734 2.5% 51,415 2.1% 221,212 6.7% 565,926 5.8%

Received advanced notice

No 2,112,250 56.3% 1,773,315 54.7% 1,591,016 54.4% 2,026,906 56.7% 2,726,374 56.6% 6,914,347 54.9%

Yes 1,636,763 43.7% 1,470,140 45.3% 1,333,803 45.6% 1,547,503 43.3% 2,088,177 43.4% 5,689,012 45.1%

How much notice

<1 month 345,927 21.7% 316,683 22.1% 302,726 23.4% 371,650 24.6% 543,082 26.6% 1,294,666 23.3%

1-2 months 473,009 29.7% 373,987 26.1% 372,543 28.8% 493,621 32.7% 675,999 33.1% 1,658,674 29.9%

2- months 772,069 48.5% 739,919 51.7% 619,686 47.9% 644,338 42.7% 820,131 40.2% 2,591,509 46.7%

Received unemployment benefits 

No 1,839,130 48.8% 1,704,733 52.2% 1,605,860 55.2% 1,823,888 51.0% 1,899,589 39.3% 5,880,516 46.6%

Yes 1,926,798 51.2% 1,558,090 47.8% 1,300,715 44.8% 1,751,225 49.0% 2,930,883 60.7% 6,750,480 53.4%

Exhausted unemployment benefits

No 1,048,334 55.5% 792,619 51.8% 735,106 57.0% 1,077,641 62.3% 1,600,930 55.1% 3,398,226 51.0%

Yes 840,447 44.5% 736,158 48.2% 554,753 43.0% 651,368 37.7% 1,302,536 44.9% 3,258,907 49.0%

Moved after job loss 

No 3,236,493 85.4% 2,871,196 87.5% 2,549,739 86.8% 3,247,401 89.8% 4,407,266 90.0% 11,003,959 86.2%

Yes 552,711 14.6% 409,801 12.5% 389,164 13.2% 369,148 10.2% 489,265 10.0% 1,762,720 13.8%

Moved, economic reason 

No 267,311 48.4% 170,614 41.6% 184,554 47.4% 134,230 36.6% 210,538 43.0% 818,435 46.4%

Yes 285,400 51.6% 239,187 58.4% 204,610 52.6% 232,556 63.4% 278,728 57.0% 944,286 53.6%

Have worked since lost job 

No 755,098 19.9% 592,766 18.0% 631,770 21.4% 1,062,421 29.3% 1,409,992 28.7% 2,496,513 19.5%

Yes 3,038,186 80.1% 2,694,877 82.0% 2,317,156 78.6% 2,564,003 70.7% 3,498,502 71.3% 10,293,801 80.5%

Number of Jobs Since Lost Job 

0 755,098 20.4% 592,766 18.5% 631,770 22.1% 1,062,421 30.2% 1,409,992 29.7% 2,496,513 20.1%

1 2,107,437 57.1% 1,884,727 58.9% 1,644,619 57.5% 1,901,450 54.0% 2,559,889 53.9% 7,094,019 57.0%

2 547,927 14.8% 478,210 14.9% 412,252 14.4% 397,464 11.3% 512,160 10.8% 1,851,537 14.9%

3+ 281,985 7.6% 245,631 7.7% 173,350 6.1% 161,580 4.6% 271,000 5.7% 1,005,364 8.1%

comtinued
14 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 6. Other Characteristics of Displacement, Non-Appalachian U.S. (cont’d)

1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 1993-2003

Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count %

Labor Force Status

Employed 2,809,044 73.9% 2,515,104 76.5% 2,184,636 74.1% 2,304,208 63.5% 3,209,844 65.4% 9,426,995 73.7%

Unemployed 480,493 12.6% 320,947 9.8% 292,132 9.9% 780,123 21.5% 987,851 20.1% 1,540,009 12.0%

Not In Labor Force 512,799 13.5% 452,914 13.8% 472,158 16.0% 543,229 15.0% 710,799 14.5% 1,830,390 14.3%

Note: When pooling observations from each DWS between 1996 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date 

of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002.

Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 15

The Displacement Experience

Table 5 (page 11) profiles Appalachian displaced workers based on their tenure on the lost job, why they were 

displaced, and various characteristics of the displacement experience. Table 6 (page 13) does the same for the 

rest of the United States. 

Tenure on lost job. Table 5 shows that over the entire 1993-2003 period nearly two-thirds of displaced workers in Appalachia had 3-10 years on the job, about one in five had 11-20 years, and one in six had 21 years or 

more. Compared to displaced workers in the rest of the U.S. a much higher percentage of Appalachian displaced workers had high tenure on their pre-displacement jobs. In 2001-2003 nearly one in six Appalachian 

displaced workers had more than 20 years experience compared to almost one in 10 in the Non-Appalachian 

United States.

Reason for job loss. In recent years (1999-2003), between five and six out of every 10 displaced workers in 

Appalachia lost their job because of a plant closing (Table 5, Figure 6). This is 8-12 percentage points higher 

than in the rest of the United States (Table 6).

Advance notice. During the entire period 1993-2003, the share of displaced Appalachian workers who received advance notice of a layoff was 39 percent. About 45 percent of displaced workers outside the region 

received advance notice in the same period.

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16 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Moving to another area. Following a job loss, some workers might move to another area to look for work 

or take another job. Only 6.7 percent of workers living in Appalachia in January 2004 and displaced during 

2001-2003 had moved for one of these reasons. This figure ranged from 5 to 14 percent in previous periods 

since 1993 (Figure 7). In 1997-1999 and in 2001-2003 Appalachian workers were less likely to have moved 

after a job loss than U.S. workers. Over the entire period workers in Appalachia were less likely to have moved 

after job loss than those living outside of Appalachia. Prior DWS research has indicated that moving increases 

a worker’s chance of being re-employed (Helwig 2001, p. 20).

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Receipt of unemployment insurance. During the 1993-2003 period as a whole 58 percent of Appalachian 

displaced workers received unemployment benefits when displaced, compared with 53 percent of workers 

outside the region.

On a consistent basis 43-47 percent of Appalachian displaced workers exhausted their unemployment benefits. 

In the rest of the United States a similar share of displaced workers exhausted their unemployment benefits in 

every three-year period between 1993 and 2003. 

Re-employment since lost job. The percentage of displaced workers who had not worked since they lost their 

job rose sharply in Appalachia between 1993-1997 and 2001-2003 (Table 5, Figure 8). During 1993-1997 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 17

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about one in five displaced Appalachian workers had not worked between the time they lost their jobs and the 

time of the DWS. During 2001-2003 this percentage was 36 percent. This increase is consistent with earlier 

DWS research that showed that displaced workers’ chances of re-employment were lower in recessions than 

in economic upturns in the 1980s and 1990s (Kletzer 1998) and, specifically, that re-employment rates fell 

during the 2001 recession (Farber 2003). 

During the period 1993-2003 as a whole the share of displaced Appalachian workers who had not worked 

since they lost their job was 24 percent. This was slightly higher than the corresponding share for their NonAppalachian counterparts (20 percent). In both Appalachia and the rest of the United States the share of 

displaced Appalachian workers who had not worked since losing their jobs rose substantially in the 1999-2001 

period, to 28 percent from roughly 20 percent in both 1993-1995 and 1995-1997. In the 2001-2003 period, 

however, the share of displaced Appalachian workers who had not worked at the time of the survey jumped 

again, to nearly 36 percent, while the Non-Appalachian U.S. share remained at 29 percent.

Weeks without work. Displaced workers who found new jobs were asked how long they went without work. 

The share of workers who found work within six weeks of displacement was 47 percent in 2001-2003, down 

from its peak of 62 percent in 1999-2001. The share of re-employed workers who took 40 or more weeks to 

find work was 17 percent in 2001-2003, compared with 13.8 percent of workers outside the region.5 

Current Labor Market Status

Employment Status. The percentage of Appalachian displaced workers employed at the time of the 2004 survey fell to 58 percent from about 70 percent in the period 1993-99 (Table 5, Figure 9). The share of displaced 

workers not in the labor force at the time of the survey was 15 percent in1999 and 21 percent in 2003.
18 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

The labor force status of Appalachian displaced workers deteriorated substantially between 2001 and 2003 

compared to that of Non-Appalachian displaced workers (Table 6). The share of Appalachian displaced workers employed at the time of the 2004 survey was seven percentage points lower than the share of Non-Appalachian displaced workers employed at the time of the same survey. In 2001-2003, the share of Appalachian 

displaced workers out of the labor force at the time of the survey was seven percentage points greater than the 

corresponding share of Non-Appalachian displaced workers.

Employment status of workers displaced from full-time jobs. Table 7 shows the employment status, as of each 

survey date, of Appalachian and Non-Appalachian workers who were displaced from full-time jobs. Over the 

entire 1993-2003 period 74 percent of displaced Non-Appalachian workers displaced from full-time jobs were 

re-employed, compared with 69 percent of their counterparts in Appalachia. 

The Appalachian experience differed most from that of the rest of the U.S. when the national economy was 

weakest, in 1993-1995 and 2001-2003. During these periods Appalachia had about 4.5-5.6 percentage points 

fewer workers re-employed full-time than the rest of the United States. 

Earnings. Table 7 also shows the inflation-adjusted weekly earnings of workers displaced from full-time jobs 

who were re-employed full-time at the time of each DWS. Over the entire 1993-2003 period 22 percent of 

displaced full-time workers in Appalachia earned the same or more in their new full time job (Figure 10). 

This compares with about 26 percent for workers outside of Appalachia. In both Appalachia and the rest of 

the U.S. this percentage was lower in the most recent survey than in the 2000 survey. This is consistent with 

Farber’s (2005) nationwide finding that percentage earnings losses are greater in recessions than in economic 

expansions. In both Appalachia and the rest of the nation in January 2004 nearly two in five displaced fulltime workers were re-employed full-time and earning less than they did before they were displaced. More than 

half of this group suffered a wage drop of at least 20 percent. 

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Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-200319

Table 7. Economic Situation of Displaced Full-Time Workers as of Survey Date 

Change in inflation adjusted weekly earnings: new 

full-time job compared to lost full-time job

Not in 

labor force Unemployed Self- employed Part-time Full-time Employed -20% or more Below but within 20% Equal, above but within 20% +20% or more

Appalachia

1993-1995 17.1% 12.6% 9.8% 8.3% 61.9% 70.2% 20.0% 20.1% 10.8% 11.0%1995-1997 14.8% 14.6% 1.5% 7.4% 63.3% 70.6% 21.8% 13.0% 15.7% 12.7%1997-1999 12.8% 16.5% 2.4% 6.9% 63.8% 70.7% 15.0% 18.3% 21.7% 8.7%1999-2001 18.6% 19.0% 8.0% 6.5% 55.9% 62.4% 23.4% 15.8% 10.2% 6.5%2001-2003 17.7% 22.8% 1.9% 8.1% 51.5% 59.6% 21.4% 14.4% 7.6% 8.1%

1993-2003 17.3% 13.9% 4.3% 8.7% 60.1% 68.8% 22.7% 15.9% 12.5% 9.0%

Non-Appalachian U.S. 

1993-1995 12.8% 12.4% 6.6% 8.3% 66.4% 74.7% 22.7% 18.8% 14.1% 10.8%1995-1997 12.1% 10.2% 4.5% 9.4% 68.3% 77.7% 18.1% 18.1% 16.0% 16.1%1997-1999 14.2% 10.5% 4.2% 6.4% 69.0% 75.3% 19.4% 20.4% 16.7% 12.5%1999-2001 13.8% 22.8% 3.2% 7.3% 56.1% 63.3% 17.5% 17.5% 12.7% 8.4%2001-2003 13.5% 21.0% 5.4% 7.8% 57.7% 65.5% 20.8% 17.3% 10.9% 8.7%

1993-2003 13.4% 12.5% 5.3% 8.5% 65.7% 74.1% 21.5% 18.0% 14.2% 11.9%

Note: When pooling observations from each DWS between 1993 and 2004 double counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less prior the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Self-employed workers are also included in the full- and part-time employee figures. For this reason the sum of the share of workers not in the labor force, unemployed, and employed is 100%.Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS. 
20 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 8. Displacement Rates, by Worker Characteristics, 

Rural and Metropolitan Appalachia and Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003

NonAppalachian 

U.S. 

Appalachia

Metro

Rate

Rural

Rate

Metro

Rate

Rural

Rate

All 2.4% 2.0% 2.3% 2.3%

Gender

Female 2.3% 1.9% 2.3% 2.0%

Male 2.5% 2.2% 2.2% 2.6%

Age

20-34 1.6% 1.7% 1.5% 1.9%

35-54 2.7% 2.1% 2.7% 2.3%

55+ 3.1% 2.5% 3.2% 3.2%

Education

Less than high school 2.3% 2.2% 2.8% 3.0%

High school 2.5% 2.3% 2.3% 2.4%

Some college 2.6% 2.1% 2.5% 2.4%

College plus 2.1% 1.4% 2.1% 1.6%

Race

White 2.4% 2.1% 2.4% 2.3%

Non White 2.4% 1.9% 1.8% 3.0%

Industry

Manufacturing & Mining 4.9% 3.6% 4.8% 3.9%

Services 1.5% 1.1% 1.4% 1.1%

Note: The difference in displacement rates when comparing rural (metro) Appalachia to the rural 

(metro) non-Appalachian U.S. are significant at the 10 percent level. The difference in the displacement 

rate of workers age 55 and older in rural Appalachia and the rural non-Appalachian U.S. is significant at 

the 10 percent level. 

Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from the CPS DWS. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 21

Rural and Metropolitan Areas Compared

One issue of special concern in Appalachia is the vulnerability of the region’s distressed counties, most of which 

are rural. Another concern is the experience of rural areas that are highly dependent on manufacturing. As 

Pollard (2003, p. 27) notes, manufacturing is more important to the economy in rural Appalachia than in 

metropolitan Appalachia. Manufacturing employed 23 percent of rural Appalachian workers but only 19.2 

percent of metropolitan Appalachian workers, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. In southern Appalachia’s 

non metropolitan areas manufacturing employed 28 percent of workers.

Table 8 (page 20) shows displacement rates for rural and metropolitan areas in Appalachia and the rest of the 

United States, both overall and for selected population groups.6 For the period 1993-2003 as a whole:

• the displacement rate in rural Appalachia (2.3 percent) was higher than that in the rural Non-Appalachian United States (2.0 pecent). 

• the displacement rate in metropolitan Appalachia (2.3 percent) was similar to that of metropolitan 

Non-Appalachia (2.4 pecent).

• workers 55 and over in rural Appalachia fared far worse than their counterparts in other rural areas 

with a displacement rate of 3.2 percent (compared to 2.5 percent for rural Non-Appalachia). 

Previous DWS research on rural-metropolitan differences in displacement rates nationwide showed that rural 

areas had higher displacement rates than metropolitan areas during the early and mid-1980s, that rural and 

metropolitan displacement rates were similar during the 1993-95, and the rural displacement rate fell below 

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22 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

the metropolitan rate in 1995-97 (Hamrick 2001). For the period 1993-2003 as a whole this report finds that 

displacement rates in rural Non-Appalachian areas remained below those in Non-Appalachian metropolitan 

areas. 

Appalachian Displacement by State

Displacement rates by state. Table 9 (page 23) presents displacement rates for the Appalachian portion of 10 

of the 13 Appalachian states for the entire 1993-2003 period.7 Among these 10 states: 

• displacement rates were highest in Pennsylvania (2.9%), New York (2.8%), and West Virginia 

(2.7%).

• displacement rates were lowest in Tennessee (2.0%) and Georgia (2.0%).

The Experience of Displacement by State. For the period 1993-2003 as a whole table 10 shows the employment status as of the survey dates of displaced workers in the Appalachian portion of each of the 10 states 

for which reliable estimates were possible. Table 10 (page 24) reveals sharp differences in the experience of 

displacement. 

• The share of displaced full-time workers not in the labor force at the time of the survey was over 

20 percent in New York and 19 percent in Pennsylvania, compared with less than 10 percent in West 

Virginia.

• The share of displaced full-time workers who were re-employed full-time at the time of the DWS 

and earning the same or more in their new job (after adjusting for inflation) was 26-27 percent in 

Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia and as low as 8 percent in North Carolina.

• The share of displaced full-time workers who were re-employed full-time at the time of the DWS 

but who accepted wages at least 20 percent below their previous job (after adjusting for inflation) 

was 40-53 percent in North Carolina, Kentucky and Alabama, but only 34 percent in Tennessee and 

Pennsylvania.
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 23

Table 9. Displacement in Appalachia by State (Appalachian 

portion only), 1993-2003

Displacement Percent worked since 

lost job

Count Rate Count %

Non-Appalachian U.S. 12,797,394 2.3% 10,293,801 80.5%

Appalachia 1,139,634 2.3% 868,568 76.2%

Alabama 163,912 2.2% 128,607 78.5%

Georgia 89,207 2.0% 74,673 83.7%

Kentucky 42,424 2.3% 37,140 87.5%

Maryland*

Mississippi 44,203 2.3% 30,990 70.1%

New York 72,633 2.8% 55,242 76.1%

North Carolina 78,246 2.3% 60,790 77.7%

Ohio 56,545 2.1% 40,060 70.8%

Pennsylvania 324,174 2.9% 241,662 74.5%

South Carolina*

Tennessee 104,164 2.0% 69,883 67.1%

Virginia*

West Virginia 94,722 2.7% 80,402 84.9%

*Results were omitted due to small sample size.

Note: All statistics by state are for the Appalachian portion of the state. 

Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from the CPS DWS. 
24 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table 10.Economic Situation of Displaced, Full-Time Workers, as of Survey Date (Percent of All Displaced Full-Time, Workers in Same Cateogry) by State (Appalachian portion only) 1993-2003. Change in inflation-adjusted weekly earnings: new full- time job compared to lost full-time job Not in labor force Unemployed Self- employed Part-time Full-time Employed -20% or more Below but within 20% Equal, above but within 20% +20% or more Non-Appalachian U.S. 13.4% 12.5% 5.3% 8.5% 65.7% 74.1% 21.5% 18.0% 14.2% 11.9% Appalachia 17.3% 13.9% 4.3% 8.7% 60.1% 68.8% 22.7% 15.9% 12.5% 9.0% Alabama 16.7% 16.3% 6.6% 6.9% 60.1% 67.0% 21.3% 18.3% 11.5% 9.0% Georgia 13.0% 14.4% 3.0% 8.5% 64.1% 72.6% 19.8% 18.4% 13.6% 12.4% Kentucky 9.8% 20.9% 4.9% 4.0% 65.3% 69.3% 32.5% 13.4% 10.9% 8.5% Maryland* Mississippi 15.7% 19.1% 11.1% 8.0% 57.2% 65.2% 19.2% 11.7% 10.4% 15.9% New York 22.3% 16.1% 3.0% 6.8% 54.7% 61.5% 14.5% 20.0% 10.5% 9.8% North Carolina 16.2% 16.6% 7.4% 5.8% 61.4% 67.2% 33.8% 19.3% 6.2% 2.1% Ohio 12.7% 21.3% 3.3% 6.2% 59.8% 66.0% 13.4% 22.7% 12.9% 10.8% Pennsylvania 18.8% 17.1% 3.6% 7.8% 56.3% 64.1% 19.8% 14.0% 17.0% 5.5% South Carolina* Tennessee 18.1% 14.1% 5.5% 7.3% 60.6% 67.8% 12.4% 21.3% 18.0% 8.8% Virginia* West Virginia 10.0% 19.7% 2.8% 7.4% 62.9% 70.3% 26.6% 12.3% 10.5% 13.5% *Results were omitted due to small sample size. Notes: Inflation-adjusted weekly wages were calculated using the CPI-U-RS. All statistics by state are for the Appalachian portion of the state. When pooling observations from each DWS between 1993 and 2004 counting is avoided by excluding individuals displaced a year or less after the date of the survey for the survey years 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. The differences in the share of full-time workers re-employed is significant at the 10 percent level between any state out of Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia and any state out of Ohio, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania except for the West-Virginia-Pennsylvania pair. The difference in the share earning the same or more is significant at the 10 percent level between North Carolina and each of West Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee. Differences in the share of displaced full-time workers re-employed full-time but earning 20 percent or less that on the job they lost are significant at the 10 percent level between any state out of Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia and either Tennessee or Pennsylvania. Source: KRC analysis of CEPR extract from CPS DWS.
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 25

Technical Appendix

The major data source for this report is the Displaced Worker Survey (DWS), a supplement to the Census 

Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey (CPS). The DWS is conducted in January or February of evennumbered years and, since 1994, has covered displacements that occurred within the three years immediately 

prior to the survey month. It considers worker displacements to be involuntary job losses due to employers’ 

operating decisions (e.g., plant closings, employers going out of business, and layoffs from which the worker 

was not recalled). 

The DWS has some limitations. Although, as part of the CPS, it is representative of the workforce as of the 

survey date, it is not necessarily representative of all worker displacements that occurred during the period 

about which displacement questions were asked. As a retrospective household survey it is subject to recall bias 

by respondents. It does not count any quits or firings as displacements, although some might legitimately be 

considered displacements. It includes information about only one pre-displacement job during the period in 

question (viz., the longest job held during that period) and does not make it possible to know whether a worker was displaced more than once during that period. Its geographic detail is limited, making it necessary to 

use indirect methods to infer displacement information for Appalachia. (See below.) Nevertheless, the DWS 

is the most comprehensive available source of quantitative 

information about displaced workers. It is based on a large, 

nationally representative sample of households. Because 

microdata are available, it offers flexibility and variety in the 

kinds of displacement analyses that can be conducted. 

Geographic Coverage 

Because of DWS sample size considerations it is possible to 

report displacement data only for Appalachia as a whole; 

for demographic, occupational, and industry groups within 

Appalachia as a whole; for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of Appalachia as a whole; and for the Appalachian portions of each of the 13 states that cover the 

Appalachian region.

The major challenge in using the DWS is to identify observations from Appalachia. The DWS contains information 

about each respondent’s state of residence and whether the 

respondent lives in a metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area. 

A limited number of metropolitan areas and metropolitan 

counties are also identified. The Current Population Survey (CPS) Displaced Worker Survey (DWS) includes state 

and metropolitan area geographic identifiers that make it 

possible to identify regions that account for about half the 

labor force of Appalachia. The identified region includes 

the state of West Virginia, 27 metropolitan areas outside 

West Virginia, and the only county within the Newburgh 

metropolitan area that is in Pennsylvania (Table A1). Any 

Table A1. Metropolitan Areas 

identified within the CPS that fall 

entirely within Appalachia

Altoona PA Huntington WV

Anderson SC Huntsville AL

Anniston AL Jamestown NY

Asheville NC Johnson City TN

Binghamton NY Johnstown PA

Birmingham AL Knoxville TN

Charleston WV

Newburgh NY 

(Pike County PA 

only)

Chattanooga TN Parkersburg WV

Cumberland MD Pittsburgh PA

Decatur AL Scranton PA

Elmira NY Sharon PA

Erie PA State College PA

Florence AL Steubenville OH

Gadsden AL Tuscaloosa AL

Greenville SC Wheeling WV

Hagerstown MD Williamsport PA

Source: Keystone Research Center based on CPS 

documentation and Appalachian Regional Commission’s 

designation of places in Appalachia.
26 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

observation that is in the Newburgh area and in Pennsylvania must be in Appalachia.

To analyze displacement in the rest of Appalachia it is necessary to consider CPS observations that cannot with 

certainty be included in or excluded from Appalachia. There are two types of such observations: those from 

metropolitan areas that are partly in and partly outside Appalachia and those from non-metropolitan portions 

of Appalachian states other than West Virginia. 

The 2000 Census 5 Percent Public Use Microdata Sample8 (IPUMS) was used to assign a nonmetropolitan or 

unidentified metropolitan observation in an Appalachian state a probability of being in the Appalachian region. 

The IPUMS data were used to estimate a logit equation of the form

ln [P/(1-P)] = Xb + e 

where P is a variable that indicates whether or not a person lives in a 2000 Census public use microdata area 

(PUMA) that is entirely or partly in Appalachia, X is a vector of socioeconomic characteristics that are common to the Census and CPS (age, race, sex interacted with marital status, and educational attainment), b is 

a vector of coefficients, and e is an error term.9 Such a model was estimated separately for each PUMA or 

combination of PUMAs that covers either (a) a metropolitan area that includes both Appalachian and non-Appalachian counties or (b) the nonmetropolitan portion of each Appalachian state.10 The estimated coefficients 

were then applied to the estimated coefficients to the CPS data for each DWS survey month to produce a 

predicted Appalachian probability for each CPS observation (whether displaced worker or not) for which Appalachian residence is uncertain based on the CPS alone.

This method assumes that persons who have been displaced from jobs in the recent past have the same probability of living in CPS-unidentifiable parts of Appalachia as do people with the same socioeconomic characteristics who have not been displaced. However, this assumption is built into the DWS itself; the DWS is 

not a representative sample of displaced workers but rather, from among a representative sample of persons in 

households, the set of those workers who have been displaced in the recent past.

Using this method two observations were then created from each CPS observation in a nonmetropolitan or 

unidentified metropolitan area of an Appalachian state. One, coded as an Appalachian observation, has a 

weight equal to WP and one, coded as a non-Appalachian observation, has a weight equal to W(1-P), where 

W is the appropriate CPS sample weight for the observation and P is the observation’s predicted probability 

of being in Appalachia. The Appalachian observations were used to estimate displacement statistics for Appalachia, its demographic groups, and its geographic areas as outlined above. This method is in the spirit of 

one used by Farber (1996, 2003) for another purpose in analyzing the DWS.

Sample Size 

Sample sizes are sufficient to permit estimates for Appalachia as a whole for each DWS year. For demographic 

and industry groups within Appalachia as a whole, for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of Appalachia as a whole, and for the Appalachian portions of each of the 13 states that cover the Appalachian region 

it is necessary to combine DWSs for the years 1996-2004.

The biennial DWSs from 199411 to the present have asked about displacements within the three years prior 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 27

to the survey. Therefore, the combined 1996-2004 DWSs include data on job losses that occurred from 1993 

through January 2004. To eliminate data overlap in combining multiple DWSs the observations that reported 

displacements for the most recent year were dropped, on the assumption that many of those reported displacements will turn out to be temporary layoffs rather than true displacements. This is the procedure that BLS 

researchers use when combining multiple DWSs.

Displacement Statistics Estimated

Displaced workers are defined as those having lost a job in the three years prior to the date of the survey due 

who are not expecting to be recalled within six months of being laid off. A displaced worker must not have 

been fired for cause but must have been laid off because of a plant closing, insufficient demand or the elimination of their position or shift. Following Farber (2003) displacement rates were calculated as the ratio of all 

workers reporting displacement to the sum of displaced workers not employed and total employment as of the 

date of the survey. 

Other Methods

In addition to the probabilistic approach of assigning observations in the DWS to the Appalachian region a 

simpler alternative method was used. This method was once again based on the identification of Appalachia 

(using PUMAs) in the IPUMS microdata. In this method an observations’s Appalachian weight was equal 

to the product of that observation’s CPS weight and estimate of the share of the total labor force that was in 

Appalachia as of the 2000 census. Since some PUMAs themselves fall partly inside and partly outside of Appalachia, population estimates by county (from the 2000 Census) were used to adjust for this overlap and to 

generate estimates of the labor force within the PUMA that fell inside the Appalachian region. Table A2 (page 

28) shows these labor force weights for each region that was partly inside and partly outside of Appalachia. 

The table also shows the mean of the weights generated using the logit method described earlier. 

Table A3 (page 29) reports race, gender, age, education, and marital status for the U.S. based on the 2000 

DWS, for Appalachia defined using labor force weights in the 2000 DWS, for Appalachia defined using logistic weights in the 2000 DWS, and finally for Appalachia based on the 2000 Census (IPUMS). Using logistic 

weights appears to improve slightly the match between Appalachia defined in the IPUMS and Appalachia in 

the DWS. Table A4 shows that these two methods produce comparable estimates of displacement in Appalachia.

In determining whether differences – between regions or within a region over time -- were statistically significant this study followed modifications of the procedures recommended by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 

determining statistically significant differences between national estimates (e.g, national estimates of a variable for two demographic groups at one point in time or for a variable at two points in time for one group).12

Modifying the BLS procedures was essential because BLS does not specify procedures for sub-national regions 

or for variables (such as the displacement rate) reported only on the CPS-DWS survey. Based on our modified 

BLS procedures, all differences highlighted as significant in this report pass a 90 percent statistical significance 

test (i.e., there is only a 10 percent chance that these differences would be observed by random chance). Since 

we had to modify BLS procedures, our estimates of statistical significance are at best approximations.
28 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Table A2. Weights for Regions Partly in and Partly Outside of Appalachia

FIPS/MSA Description Simple 

Weight

Mean of 

Logistic 

Weight

1 Rural Alabama 0.69 0.76

13 Rural Georgia 0.22 0.25

21 Rural Kentucky 0.38 0.41

24 Rural Maryland

28 Rural Mississippi 0.38 0.54

36 Rural New York 0.35 0.40

37 Rural North Carolina 0.28 0.32

39 Rural Ohio 0.35 0.42

42 Rural Pennsylvania 0.85 0.85

45 Rural South Carolina

47 Rural Tennessee 0.53 0.63

51 Rural Virginia 0.32 0.39

160 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

240 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA/NJ 0.09 0.17

500 Athens, GA 0.17

520 Atlanta, GA 0.28 0.30

1320 Canton, OH 0.07 0.30

1640 Cincinnati, OH/KY/IN 0.15 0.16

3120 Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, NC 0.33 0.33

3240 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA 0.07 0.20

3290 Hickory-Morgantown, NC 0.58 0.58

4280 Lexington-Fayette, KY

5240 Montgomery, AL 0.19 0.39

6800 Roanoke, VA 0.13 0.45

9320 Youngstown-Warren, OH-PA 0.19 0.20

The Appalachian portion of Rural-Maryland, Rural-South Carolina, Albany-NY, and 

Lexington-KY could not be identified using the IPUMS and thus observations from these 

areas were excluded from our Appalachian sample. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 29

Table A3. Comparison of the Demographic Characteristics of the DWS Samples Defined with Logistic 

and Labor Force Weights

2000

Entire 

US DWS 

Sample

Appalachia

Logit DWS Simple DWS IPUMS

Race

White 74.1% 88.8% 86.4% 88.3%

Black 11.4% 9.4% 11.4% 8.1%

Hispanic 10.2% 1.1% 1.3% 1.8%

Other 4.4% 0.7% 0.9% 1.8%

Gender

Male 47.8% 47.9% 47.7% 54.0%

Female 52.2% 52.1% 52.3% 46.0%

Age

20-34 28.9% 27.2% 27.2% 34.0%

35-54 42.0% 41.1% 40.9% 51.4%

55+ 29.0% 31.7% 31.9% 14.7%

Educational Attainment

Less than High School 14.3% 17.7% 17.7% 13.6%

High School 33.6% 40.0% 39.7% 35.5%

Some College 27.4% 23.9% 23.8% 29.6%

College 16.8% 12.4% 12.6% 13.8%

Post-Graduate Degree 8.0% 6.0% 6.2% 7.6%

Marital Status

Not Married 39.6% 36.0% 37.5% 35.4%

Married 60.4% 64.0% 62.5% 64.6%
30 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 

Notes

1. Throughout this report the term “rural” refers to nonmetropolitan areas.

2. When multiple surveys are pooled to improve the reliability of the estimates, double-counting is avoided 

by eliminating respondents who were displaced during the most recent year in which two consecutive surveys 

overlapped. This is a standard practice at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, when the 1998 survey 

(covering displacements that occurred during 1995-1997) is combined with the 2000 survey (covering displacements that occurred during 1997-1999) the respondents to the 2000 survey who were displaced in 1997 

are eliminated.

3. Manufacturing and mining are combined following the convention of the Center for Economic and Policy 

Research, which provided the DWS data used for this report. 

4. As of January 2003 the CPS allowed respondents to describe their racial background using multiple racial 

categories. In this analysis respondents who described themselves with any mix of racial categories other than 

white were classified as non-white. Respondents who described their ethnicity as Hispanic were also classified 

as non-white. 

5. The difference in the share of workers within Appalachia that went 40 or more weeks before finding work 

is only significant when comparing the share in to the share in 199-2001. The difference between 2001-2003 

and all other years is not significant. 

6. In calculating displacement rates for manufacturing and mining and services observations from the 2004 

DWS were excluded because of the switch in that year to the North American Industry Classification System 

(NAICS).

7. Sample sizes for Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina were too small to permit reliable estimation of 

displacement rates. 

8. Steven Ruggles, Matthew Sobek, Trent Alexander, Catherine A. Fitch, Ronald Goeken, Patricia Kelly Hall, 

Miriam King, and Chad Ronnander. Integrated Public Use Micro Data Series: Version 3.0 Machine-readable 

database. Minneapolis: Population Center, 2004. 

9. Models that included occupation and industry as explanatory variables in addition to the socioeconomic 

variables were estimated. However, the predictive success of models that included occupation and industry 

was virtually identical to that of models that included only socioeconomic variables. For this reason, and because creating a crosswalk to deal with the change in industry and occupation categories that occurred in the 

CPS during the period under study would introduce an additional source of error of unknown magnitude, the 

results in this report are based on models that include only socioeconomic variables. 

10. The PUMAs are areas with a population greater than 100,000 and usually follow county boundaries. 

Some PUMAs themselves fall partly inside and partly outside Appalachia. All PUMAs only partly inside Appalachia were treated as if they were entirely within Appalachia. A complete list of the PUMA entirely within 

and partly in Appalachia is available upon request.

11. It was not possible to include observations from the DWS in 1994 due to the absence of comparable geographic identifiers prior to 1996. 
Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003 31

12. In the BLS formula for calculating standard errors, we used the “a” and “b” parameters specified in the top 

line of Table 1-D (for the total civilian labor force, employed, and not in the labor force). When comparing 

results within and across individual DWS surveys, we inflated standard errors by the “f” factor for year-to-year 

changes of monthly estimates – since we are using findings from a DWS supplement that is conducted every 

two years in a single month. When comparing results from pooled DWS surveys we used an “f” factor of 1.

See: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings. February 

2005.
32 Worker Displacement in Appalachia and the Non-Appalachian U.S., 1993-2003

References

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Hamrick, Karen S. “Displaced Workers: Differences in Nonmetro and Metro Experience in the Mid-1990s,” 

ERS Rural Development Research Report No. 92. October 2001. Online at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/

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Helwig , Ryan T., “Worker Displacement in a Strong Labor Market,” Monthly Labor Review, June 2001: 13-

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Kletzer, Lori, “Job Displacement,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 12 (Winter 1998): 115-136.

Pollard, Kevin M. Appalachia at the Milennium: An Overview of Results from Census 2000 (Washington, D.C.: 

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