Maryland Employment Numbers for July were Disappointing

The state employment statistics for July were all disappointing. Employment of Maryland residents (seasonally adjusted) was down 15,000 from June – the third consecutive decline. (That's the number of employed Maryland residents. The number of jobs located in Maryland also went down: by 9,200).

The number of unemployed Marylanders went up by 3000, reaching its highest level since October of 2011.

Maryland’s unemployment rate went up to 7.1 percent from 7.0 in June. It has been edging up since reaching  6.5 percent back in April of this year. Prior to the Great Recession, Maryland’s unemployment rate was below 3.5 percent. Maryland's unemployment rate is now approaching the national rate of 7.4 percent.

Economists are attributing the bad news to the automatic federal budget cuts known as “the sequester,” at least in part.

The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's analysis finds the glass half full, by pointing out the gains in private sector jobs since the start of the year, and by noting that the unemployment rate for June was not revised downwards.