The most-recent jobs report showed that between March and April, Maryland lost 4,300 Total Nonfarm jobs. The greatest declines were in State Government with a loss of 2,800 jobs, and Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services which lost 1,900 jobs. The apparent decrease in government employment may be impacted by the end of the State Legislative session in early April. Non-Durable Goods also dropped 1,100 positions. Other Services gained 900 jobs, while Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, and Transportation and Utilities each gained 800 positions. The unemployment rate for Maryland stayed constant at 4.3%—unchanged from last month—with the state’s labor force growing by 1,766 workers in April.
Neighboring states in the Mid-Atlantic region (Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.) added a combined 15,200 Total Nonfarm jobs, including gains of 15,900 Total Private jobs and losses of 700 Government jobs. The greatest gains were in Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services which added 4,300 jobs, and Educational Services which added 3,300 positions. The most-significant losses were in Mining, Logging, and Construction, declining by 1,500 positions, and Local Government, which lost approximately 1,100 jobs between March and April. The unemployment rate for neighboring states dropped slightly to 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in March.
To make more sense of what’s happening with Maryland’s employment numbers, we’ve embedded our new tool: the Mid-Atlantic Regional Employment Workbook. This dashboard allows you to examine 29 different industries and see how employment is varying in Maryland as well as four other states in the Mid-Atlantic region. To use the dashboard select a sector of the economy that interests you from the dropdown at the top. When you change the sector of interest, the map and five line graphs will update to reflect historical data for that industry. Want to know how employment changed in the sector last month? Hover over each state in the map for percentage changes. Or hover over the line graphs to get more detailed information on the number of employees each month since January 2016 by state.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Employment Workbook
About the Authors
Daraius Irani, Ph.D.
Vice President
Daraius Irani, Ph.D. serves as vice president of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research. He fosters the development of partnerships between business, government, and education that contributes to the economic vitality of our region. He also serves as chief economist at the Regional Economic Studies Institute and is often called on by state agencies, private companies, and local governments to provide insight on proposed policies, development, and economic forecasting. With a passion for all things economic, Daraius's posts focus on a wide range of topics from immigration to bicycling.
Katie Menking
Economist
Katie Menking serves as economist at the Regional Economic Studies Institute. She has numerous roles, including primary and secondary data collection and analysis, methodology design, and report writing and editing. Katie is a primary author of Eye on the Economy, RESI’s monthly analysis of unemployment data. Read Katie’s Posts
