In rural Mississippi, still waiting on recovery

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks to students as part of a conference on rural poverty at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, U.S., February 12, 2019. REUTERS/Howard Schneider

ITTA BENA, Miss (Reuters) - Here’s what has happened in Leflore County, Mississippi, since the end of the U.S. recession in 2009.

The number of jobs fell 4 percent and nearly 8 percent of the businesses disappeared. Average annual pay at private firms stalled. The median age spiked a full three years as working age adults voted with their feet and left. Home ownership rates tipped from just over half of families to below it.