The most recent jobs report showed that between May and June, Maryland employment dropped by approximately 5,500 Total Nonfarm jobs. The greatest losses were in the Government supersector with a decrease of 4,000 positions, followed by the Leisure and Hospitality supersector which declined by 1,900 jobs. The Trade, Transportation, and Utilities supersector also posted declines of 900 fewer jobs, driven largely by losses in the retail trade subsector. Two supersectors—Professional and Business Services, and Mining, Logging, and Construction—posted gains of 2,500 jobs and 600 jobs, respectively. Notably, the preliminary jobs report for May was revised up by 3,400 positions to a total increase of 8,000 positions—a significant increase from the 4,600 first reported. The Professional and Businesses Services supersector accounted for the majority of the additions with a revision up of 2,600 jobs from May’s preliminary report. The unemployment rate for Maryland stayed constant in June at 4.3 percent, unchanged from May.
Neighboring states in the Mid-Atlantic region (Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.) added 2,300 Total Nonfarm jobs, including gains of 4,800 Total Private jobs and losses of 2,500 Government jobs. The greatest gains were in the Leisure and Hospitality supersector which added 5,900 positions, followed by the Financial Activities supersector posting an increase of 2,900 positions. The greatest losses were in the Mining, Logging, and Construction supersector with a decline of 2,600 positions, while Government employment declined by 2,500 jobs. The unemployment rate for neighboring states fell to 3.9 percent, down from 4.0 percent in May.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, which covers the Fifth District (including the state of Maryland), indicated that trucking and travel/tourism firms in the region have been experiencing robust demand but are struggling to find workers to deliver services. Despite labor shortages, the Transportation and Utilities subsector added 300 positions in the state in May. This tight labor availability is having an impact on workers who are fielding multiple employment offers and putting more pressure on wages to rise, though the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond currently reports only modest increases. While residential construction has also increased in Maryland, firms are reporting project delays resulting from worker shortages. In the manufacturing industry, firms reported lower profits resulting from increased input and transportation costs that are exceeding output prices.
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