Question

interpreting statistics
percentage of labor force in agriculture
1860 53%
1870 52%
1880 51%
1890 43%
1900 40%
1910 31%
1920 26%
1930 21%
farming profession
number of farms (in thousands) proportion of total population
1940 6,350 23.1%
1950 5,648 15.2%
1960 3,963 8.7%
1970 2,949 4.7%
1980 2,428 2.7%
u.s. population
year total population (in millions) rural urban
1870 40 74% 26%
1880 50 72% 28%
1890 63 65% 35%
1900 76 60% 40%
questions to think about

1. when did the steepest decline take place in the proportion of american workers earning their livelihood in agriculture?
2. how did rural growth compare with urban growth?

farming
interpreting statistics
farm production

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze percentage change in agriculture labor - force

For the proportion of American workers in agriculture, calculate the percentage - point change between consecutive years.
From 1860 (53%) to 1870 (52%), change = 53 - 52=1%.
From 1870 (52%) to 1880 (51%), change = 52 - 51 = 1%.
From 1880 (51%) to 1890 (43%), change = 51 - 43 = 8%.
From 1890 (43%) to 1900 (40%), change = 43 - 40 = 3%.
From 1900 (40%) to 1910 (31%), change = 40 - 31 = 9%.
From 1910 (31%) to 1920 (26%), change = 31 - 26 = 5%.
From 1920 (26%) to 1930 (21%), change = 26 - 21 = 5%.
The steepest decline is 9 percentage points from 1900 to 1910.

Step2: Analyze rural and urban growth

For rural and urban growth, look at the percentage of the population in each category over time.
In 1870, rural = 74%, urban = 26%.
In 1880, rural = 72%, urban = 28%.
In 1890, rural = 65%, urban = 35%.
In 1900, rural = 60%, urban = 40%.
The percentage of the rural population is decreasing while the percentage of the urban population is increasing. Urban growth is faster than rural growth as the urban percentage is increasing by larger amounts in each time - period compared to the decrease in the rural percentage.

Answer:

1. The steepest decline in the proportion of American workers earning their livelihood in agriculture took place from 1900 to 1910.
2. Urban growth was faster than rural growth as the percentage of the urban population increased while the percentage of the rural population decreased over time.