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The deterioration in national conditions has continued to take its toll on Maryland’s job market.
Maryland’s private sector job creation, which has been uneven throughout the
year, trended downward in July. With actual hiring demand down in an already
tight labor market, the increasing numbers of Marylanders entering the job
market pushed the State’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate up by 0.4
percentage points over-the-month to 4.4 percent in July according to estimates
released by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The
current unemployment rate, which is the highest for the month since July 2003,
is up from 3.6 percent recorded a year ago.
The share of unemployed Marylanders
searching for employment, however, remained considerably below that
of the nation, which rose to 5.7 percent in July.
While hiring at the federal level
and in local government summer programs helped to elevate Maryland
business payrolls in July, the overall increase was mitigated by a
decline of 500 jobs on private sector payrolls. July is not
typically a month of large job increases, however, the current
decline, coupled with a private sector job loss of 1,100 jobs
reported in June, is an added weight on Maryland’s job market in
light of the continuing weakness in the construction, manufacturing and finance sectors.
While employment rose in nearly every local jurisdiction during July, the
seasonal influx of jobseekers eclipsed employment expansion, causing
non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates to rise in all
jurisdictions, with the exception of Washington and Worcester
counties. Baltimore City’s rate, remaining the statewide high at 7.3 percent in July,
along with Cecil County’s rate, showed the largest upward movement
over-the-month, with unemployment rising by 0.7 percentage points.
Thirteen local jurisdictions reported unemployment rates at
or below the statewide non-seasonally adjusted rate in July, with an
unemployment low of 3.4 percent shared by Howard and Montgomery
counties. In reaction to the overall slowdown in statewide market
conditions, unemployment rates in all but Dorchester County have
risen since last July.
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