State jobless rate jumps

158,000 Maryland job-seekers unable to find work as unemployment rises to 5.3 percent

"If I take a position for less than $10 an hour, I just can't survive off of that," says Solitario, who relies on unemployment insurance to rent an apartment for herself and her three young-adult children. "It's just so tough. Between rent, car insurance, food, it's difficult because you have to juggle everything. I can't even understand what's happening."

Local employers have announced hundreds of layoffs in recent weeks.

Volvo AB of Sweden said about a week ago that it is cutting production and workers at its Mack Powertrain Division plant in Hagerstown, effective Jan. 25, as sales of trucks and buses have dropped. Two Baltimore-area manufacturers are laying off a total of 267 workers, including Harland Clarke, which is shutting down a check-printing operation in Glen Burnie by the end of March. Solo Cup Co. plans to lay off 147 workers at its Owings Mills plant and 29 people in its Owings Mills corporate offices.

Baltimore money manager Legg Mason Inc. earlier this month cut 8 percent, or about 200 people, from its corporate work force, affecting about 99 employees in the Baltimore region. And Baltimore-based energy giant Constellation Energy Group blamed the near certainty of a prolonged, deep recession for plans to cut more than 800 people, mostly from its commodities trading division, with about half those jobs in the Baltimore area. And more layoffs are expected as part of Provident Bankshares announcement yesterday that is has agreed to sell itself to M&T Bank Corp.

The state's jobless rate has risen significantly on a nonseasonally adjusted, year-over-year basis. Maryland unemployment had been at 3.4 percent in November 2007, data show.