• The most recent jobs report showed that between September and October, Maryland gained a total of 10,200 Total Nonfarm jobs.
  • The official unemployment rate for Maryland increased to 7.8 percent.

According to the most recent jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Maryland gained a total of 10,200 Total Nonfarm positions between September and October of 2020. This was a result of a gain of 18,800 Total Private jobs, offset by a loss of 8,600 Total Government positions. Despite the increase in Total Nonfarm jobs, Maryland’s unemployment rate increased to 7.8 percent in October.

Although the state restored approximately 67,000 people to its labor force between September and October, it also increased the number of unemployed persons by approximately 12,000. This suggests that a significant number of people in Maryland have begun to look for work, but have not yet found a job. This resulted in an increase in the state’s unemployment rate, due to the calculation used to determine the rate.

The largest job gains in October were seen in Accommodation and Food Services, which gained 8,600 jobs, and Health Care and Social Assistance, with 6,800 new positions. This is the second straight month where Accommodation and Food Services added the most jobs among all subsectors, and the fifth straight month that it led among all private industry subsectors. The most significant job losses were seen in Local Government, which dropped by 7,300 jobs, followed by Educational Services, which dropped by 2,700 positions, and Mining, Logging, and Construction, which lost 2,600 jobs.

Among Maryland and its neighbors, Maryland is the only state to experience a reported increase in unemployed persons or an increase in the unemployment rate between September and October. Only the District of Columbia is currently estimated to have a higher unemployment rate than Maryland, with Delaware, Virginia, and Pennsylvania all reporting lower rates. This follows significant drops in the unemployment rates for Delaware and Pennsylvania, which both reported higher unemployment rates than Maryland only a month earlier.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Employment Workbook

To make more sense of what’s happening with Maryland’s employment numbers, we’ve embedded our Mid-Atlantic Regional Employment Workbook. This dashboard allows you to examine 29 different industries to 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.