Over 300,000 jobs are estimated to have been saved or created, millions of Americans will benefit from improved services

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2010 (USDA) – USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager today issued a report on how the agency's distribution of loan and grant funds provided to the agency through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) has helped the nation's rural residents.

The Daily Yonder blog began on July 14 an examination of what has happened to rural America during the last decade. Its post on that day began to look at changes in population, ethnicity, age groups and education.

That day's post has many interesting maps and charts that illustrate these changes.