- The most recent jobs report showed that between June and July, Maryland lost 5,000 Government jobs while gaining 900 Total Private jobs, resulting in an overall loss of 4,100 Total Nonfarm positions.
- Since January, Maryland has lost a total of 16,100 Total Nonfarm jobs.
- The unemployment rate for Maryland remained constant at 3.8 percent in July.
According to the most recent jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Maryland lost 4,100 Total Nonfarm positions between June and July, the third month in a row that Maryland has reported a loss in total jobs. This loss was a result of a 5,000 position decrease in Government jobs, only partially offset by a gain of 900 Total Private jobs. Maryland’s unemployment rate in July was 3.8 percent, which remains unchanged since March.
Since January, Maryland has lost a total of 16,100 Total Nonfarm jobs. Nearly all of the jobs lost this year have been in the private sector, with a total decrease of 15,700 positions. Although Maryland experienced a sizable overall loss in Government jobs this month, only 400 Government jobs have been lost in total since January. Some of the most significant overall job losses this year have been seen in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector, which lost 7,200 jobs, the Leisure and Hospitality sector, which lost 6,100 jobs, and the Retail Trade sector, which dropped by 5,900 positions.
On the supersector level, the biggest decreases between June and July were reported in the Government sector which declined by 5,000 jobs, and Professional and Business Services with a decrease of 2,300 positions. The most significant increase this month was seen in the Education and Health Services sector, which added 4,300 jobs. On the subsector level, Maryland’s overall loss was driven almost entirely by a loss of 6,400 Local Government jobs, followed distantly by a 2,200 position drop for the Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services subsector. Maryland’s highest gains were in Healthcare and Social Assistance, which added 2,600 jobs, and Educational Services, which gained an additional 1,700 positions.
While Maryland experienced another month of job loss, neighboring states in the Mid-Atlantic region (Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.) combined to add a total of 6,700 nonfarm jobs between June and July, with a gain of 4,100 Total Private jobs and 2,600 Government positions. This overall gain was driven by growth in Washington D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania, while Delaware experienced a small overall decrease in jobs. Neighboring states’ largest gains on the supersector level were in Leisure and Hospitality, which added 3,500 jobs, and Mining, Logging, and Construction, which gained 2,800 jobs. The largest overall losses in these states were reported in the Professional and Business Services sector (decreased 3,900 jobs) and the Manufacturing sector (lost 2,100 positions). The overall unemployment rate for neighboring states in July remained unchanged at 3.5 percent, although both Pennsylvania and Delaware reported a small uptick in their own unemployment rates.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Employment Workbook
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 2017 by state.
