AP Economic Stress Index: The U.S. in Shades of Orange

Marion County Library

Link to May 2 Los Angeles Times article, "Simple diversions, faith help SC residents of stressed counties deal with Great Recession".

Excerpt: In Marion, a tobacco town bypassed by the four-lane highway but not the Great Recession, more worshipers are kneeling at church, youth baseball rosters are thicker and the public library seems as busy as the local employment office.

About 100 miles to the northwest in Chester, folks are turning out for free arts shows while fishermen try their luck at one of South Carolina's state parks where attendance is up sharply.

[snip]

Marion and Chester counties are among the 65 most economically stressed in the nation with populations greater than 25,000 residents, according to the Associated Press's Economic Stress Index, a monthly analysis of the economic state of more than 3,100 U.S. counties.