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BALTIMORE, MD (September 19, 2008) – Maryland’s resistance to national market
conditions has, over the past few months, begun to show signs of wavering. Following
last month’s increase, seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up again in August,
rising from 4.3 percent in July to 4.5 percent according to estimates released by
the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Maryland while not immune
from the national economic unrest, does, however, appear to be faring much better than
the US as a whole. The latest national estimates show unemployment rising by 0.4
percentage points over-the-month to 6.1 percent in August. Comparatively, the increase
in Maryland’s unemployment rate since last year, of 0.9 percentage points, is much less
pronounced than that of 1.4 percentage points recorded nationally.
Activity on Maryland’s business payrolls, although slowing, reinforces the fact that
Maryland’s economy appears to be in a much better place than that of the nation. Job
losses continued nationally during August while Maryland’s seasonally adjusted payroll
count showed an increase of 1,800 jobs. Expansion was restricted to private sector
payrolls, with gains spread across all major sectors with the exception of construction,
information and leisure/hospitality where employment remained essentially unchanged.
Despite the general disquiet tempering economic conditions, Maryland industries have
generated just over 27,000 jobs since last August.
Local labor markets movements reflected the traditional exodus of summer workers
from the labor market. Labor force downsizing helped to either maintain or lower
non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in all but five local jurisdictions
during August. 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 3.2 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.
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