21,000 more Marylanders employed

Yesterday Maryland received some good news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics when the latest jobs report showed that 20,977 more residents were employed in October than September. 5,104 fewer Marylanders were unemployed, and the unemployment rate dropped two tenths of a percentage point to 6.7 percent.

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The state added a total of 14,000 new jobs during the month. The largest increases were in the professional and business services industry (+3,900); trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,700); leisure and hospitality (+3,700). The construction (+2,300), financial activities (+1,700), and education and health services (+2,700) industries also added jobs. Manufacturing (-2,300) and government (-2,700) lost jobs.

This is the lowest Maryland's unemployment rate has been since May, and the most private sector jobs created in one month since 1996.

While this is great news, there are still more than twice as many unemployed Marylanders as there were before the Great Recession. As Governor O'Malley develops the budget he will submit to the legislature in January, we urge him to continue to support and expand programs for struggling families all across Maryland.