The dominant spatial trend in U.S. metropolitan areas during the fast-growing 1980s was decentralization of employment. Between 1980 and 1990, the number of jobs in U.S. metropolitan areas increased by 49.2 percent outside of central cities compared to 13.1 percent within them. In all, two-thirds of all metropolitan job growth occurred outside of central cities during the 1980s (Hughes, 1992).
