Md. unemployment rate increases

Maryland's unemployment rate jumped 0.5 percentage point in June despite the fact that a record number of Marylanders were employed during the month, as a surge in the number of seasonal workers seeking jobs expanded the labor pool and a dip in the auto industry helped hold down short-term job gains.

The state's unemployment rate climbed to 5.4 percent from 4.9 percent in May, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

But after adjustment for seasonal factors, the jobless rate rose only to 5.1 percent from 5.0 percent, reflecting the fact that much of the labor force surge will disappear when it's time for students to return to college.

The department said the state economy, combined with employment of Marylanders in adjacent states and in Washington, added 39,660 new jobs for Marylanders in June.

The number of employed Marylanders passed 2.6 million during the month, the highest figure for any June on record.

The Washington suburbs had the lowest unemployment rate of any region of Maryland at 4 percent, with only 3.1 percent of workers in Montgomery County jobless.

In metropolitan Baltimore, the rate was 6.2 percent, with Baltimore City's 8.7 percent jobless rate more than doubling Howard County's 4.2 percent.

In Western Maryland, 8 percent of workers were jobless.