|
The number of idled workers rose during February, causing Maryland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to inch up from 7.5 percent in January to 7.7 percent in February according to data released by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Currently, the unemployment rate is more than a full percentage point above that of a year ago when an estimated 6.4 percent of Maryland’s jobseekers were without a job.
|
Nationally, the unemployment rate, while holding steady over-the-month at 9.7 percent, remains a full
two percentage points higher than that of Maryland.
According to Maryland’s monthly business survey, the
number of jobs on industry payrolls, following seasonal adjustment, declined by nearly 14,000 during February.
Seven of the state’s ten business sectors reduced employment levels over-the-month. Job reductions were
largest in construction and trade/transportation/warehousing and utilities.
There continues to be significant pressure on the job market. Both the unemployment rate and business
payroll statistics may continue to behave erratically as the economy strives to move ahead.
At the local level, market activity generally slows during the winter months. This year, however, normal
seasonal downswings were exacerbated by back-to-back snowstorms during February, making an already tight labor
market even more restrictive for jobseekers. Not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were higher during
February in sixteen of the state’s twenty-four local jurisdictions. Unemployment rates in Cecil and Washington
counties showed the largest upward movements, rising by 0.8 and 0.9 percentage points, respectively. Worcester
County’s rate, at 18.5 percent, remained the highest while rates in Howard and Montgomery counties, both
declining somewhat over-the-month, were among the lowest rates during the month at 5.8 percent and 5.9
percent, respectively.
Return to the top of the page
|
