when the country was expanding westward and new industries were being developed geographic labor mobility was at its peak new migrants and american born workers moved to places with economic promise 
however the rate of moving has declined consistently since the 1980s 7 according to u s census data the rate of movement between states has fallen by nearly half since 1989 while the rate of mobility between counties has declined by almost a third indeed even during the coronavirus pandemic labor mobility continued downwards in the u s with just 8 4 of people living in a different residence in 2021 down from 9 3 in 2020 8