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BALTIMORE, MD (September 27, 2007) – Jobseekers were fewer in August, helping to
neutralize a moderate downturn in employment and to lower the seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate from 4.0 percent in July to 3.7 percent in August according to
Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Nationally, downsizing in the labor force also absorbed a monthly employment decline,
keeping unemployment at 4.6 percent in August.
Continuing tightening in the credit market tempered activity on Maryland’s private
sector business payrolls during August. Job totals were lower in both construction and
manufacturing, however, retail trade, health services and businesses providing administrative
support services reported modest upturns over-the-month.
At the local level, the movement in non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates reflected
the traditional exodus of temporary summer workers from the job market. Unemployment rates
declined in each of Maryland’s local jurisdictions, with the largest downward movements, of
nearly a full percentage point, occurring in Prince George’s and Garrett counties. More than
half of the state’s jurisdictions reported unemployment rates at or below the statewide
non-seasonally adjusted average in August, with rates in Montgomery and Howard counties
the lowest at 2.7 percent, followed by Frederick County’s rate of 2.9 percent.
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