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BALTIMORE, MD (August 23, 2007) – Maryland’s labor market was little changed in July.
While employment advanced, a slightly higher increase in the number of jobseekers caused
unemployment to inch up by 0.2 percentage points over the month to 4.0 percent in July
according to estimates released by the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
The share of unemployed Marylanders searching for employment, however, remained considerably
below that of the nation, which was reported at 4.6 percent in July.
Maryland’s job market has held up quite well despite the downshifting in the construction,
housing and financial markets that has slowed the overall pace of job generation in Maryland
as well as across the nation. According to a separate survey of business establishments,
Maryland’s private sector employers added 2,100 jobs during July, with gains in education
and health services industries leading the expansion. Since last July, Maryland’s private
sector payrolls have grown by nearly 24,000 jobs, with almost two-thirds of the increase
resulting from combined growth in the professional/business services and education/health services
sectors.
At the local level, the influx of seasonal jobseekers into the labor market caused
non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates to rise in all but two jurisdictions.
Fifteen local jurisdictions reported unemployment rates at or below the statewide
non-seasonally adjusted rate, with an unemployment low of 3.2 percent shared by Howard
and Montgomery counties.
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