MD unemployment 6.6% in March

Maryland's unemployment rate was unchanged last month, holding steady at 6.6 percent, according to just-released Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on state-level employment figures for March.

While more than 206,000 Marylanders were unemployed, this was the fewest since February 2009, the last time before February this year when the unemployment rate was so low. Of course, as I highlighted in my last post about the national figures, unemployment rates are very different across different sub-populations. Unemployment is likely much higher among minority Marylanders, women, veterans, and young people, to name a few. While BLS does not release monthly figures on these groups at the state level, you can see their preliminary figures for 2012 (PDF). Data on previous years is available about halfway down this page.

Employers located in Maryland added 4,700 jobs in March. Gains were diffusely scattered across multiple industries: construction, manufacturing, financial activities, professional and business services, and education and health. The trade, transportation, and utilities sector lost the most jobs--1,600.