Jobless Rate

Despite the drag of both a housing slump and a shrinking supply of unemployed workers to hire, Maryland's economy produced nearly as many jobs last year as it did the year before, according to new numbers from the federal government. The unemployment rate fell to a low 3.8 percent. Employers added 36,400 jobs last year, off by 500 from 2005, according to Labor Department statistics released yesterday. The jobless rate - which improved from 4.1 percent in 2005 - was well below the nation's 4.6 percent rate.

WASHINGTON -- The economy generated fewer jobs than expected in April, the Labor Department reported yesterday, but many analysts said the job market remains tight enough to drive up hiring later this year. "Employers are going to continue to hire. They will be hiring at a slower pace this year than they were last year, but they'll keep hiring," said Nigel Gault, U.S. economist for Global Insight in Waltham, Mass. "The labor market will probably stay quite tight, and there's still going to be a problem for employers looking around for skills."

Maryland's economy finished 1998 with a flourish, adding 6,000 jobs in December and driving the state's unemployment rate down to 3.8 percent, its lowest point in almost a decade, the government said yesterday.It was more persuasive evidence that Maryland is fully sharing in the thumping national prosperity that has erased government deficits, employed the jobless, made homebuilders work weekends and lifted the stock market to once-unimaginable heights."It just looks very, very good," said Charles McMillion, an economist who follows Maryland for MBG Information Services Inc., a Washington-based forecasting and consulting firm.

The percentage of Marylanders without jobs inched higher in May, but, thanks to the economic boom, the unemployment rate was still the lowest for the month in 10 years, state officials announced yesterday.About 3.6 percent of the state's work force was unemployed in May, up from 3.5 percent in April, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. But the unemployment rate is still a full percentage point lower than last year, and the lowest for May since 1989.State officials mainly attribute the slight increase to the seasonal influx of summer workers, which swelled the state's labor force in May by 17,400 people, to nearly 2.8 million.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy created 46,000 new jobs last month, fewer than expected and the worst monthly performance in more than three years, the government reported yesterday. Even so, the unemployment rate fell to a 29-year low of 4.2 percent, government figures showed.The decline from February's gain of 297,000 jobs was attributed primarily to blizzards in many parts of the country, curtailing hiring by construction companies and restaurants, and isn't a sign of a slowdown, analysts said.

Maryland's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose a notch to 4.9 percent in July but still stayed well below the nation's jobless rate of 5.4 percent for the same month, state officials said yesterday.The state's jobless rate, which has hovered within two-tenths of a point below or over 5 percent since April 1994, was 4.8 percent in June of this year.U.S. Labor Department officials said yesterday that the national unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent in August. Maryland's jobless tally for August won't be disclosed until next month.

WASHINGTON -- A surprisingly robust U.S. economy ended the year by generating more than a quarter-million new jobs in December, making the 1994 gain in employment the greatest in a decade, the government reported yesterday.The unemployment rate slipped to 5.4 percent last month, the lowest level since July 1990 and comparable with levels not common since the early 1970s.Economists said the latest job figures, which provided the first broad look at the economy's performance last month, showed strength that would probably carry well into 1995.

WASHINGTON -- In the clearest sign yet that the economy is cooling off, the government reported yesterday that job growth was surprisingly weak in January and that unemployment rose to 5.7 percent.For all practical purposes, the three-tenths of a point rise in the jobless rate last month was the first increase in unemployment in two and a half years. There was an artificial jump, which made comparisons invalid, when a new method of computing the jobless rate was introduced at the beginning of 1994.

Carroll County's 6.8 percent unemployment rate for February showed a slight increase over the 6.5 percent rate for January, but nothing unexpected, a state employment official said."

The nation's unemployment rate hit a four-year low in October and hourly wages took their biggest jump in 11 years. The report gave President Clinton a boost as he campaigned for struggling Democrats but deepened inflation fears and further battered financial markets.Mr. Clinton, stumping in Minnesota with four days left to Tuesday's elections, seized on the monthly Labor Department report -- which also showed lengthening workweeks -- as evidence that his economic plan is working."We have to continue with this economic policy that puts people first," he said.

Losses in the job market are finally showing real signs of moderating. But as with most other economic data these days, Friday's employment report sent mixed messages, suggesting that while the economy may be bottoming out, recovery will likely be slow, fitful and frustrating. The Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy lost 247,000 jobs in July while the unemployment rate dipped to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent. That was the smallest monthly decline in jobs since last August and provided clear evidence that the longer-term pace of job erosion is slowing markedly.

Maryland's jobless rate rose to a nearly 17-year high of 6.7 percent last month, reflecting continuing economic woes in a deepening recession, the Labor Department said Friday. The state's unemployment rate was the worst since April 1992, when it hit 6.9 percent. While Maryland has fared better than many states, its unemployment has steadily risen as turmoil in the housing, construction and financial markets has widened. The state's jobless rate, adjusted for seasonal changes, climbed to 6.2 percent in January, from 5.4 percent in December.

Maryland's jobless rate spiked over 6 percent in January, climbing to a 16-year high in the midst of the deepening recession, preliminary government figures released yesterday show. Economists said they were surprised at how rapidly employment weakness has accelerated in Maryland, though the state still fared better than the nation. The country's unemployment rate hit 7.6 percent in January and 8.1 percent last month, the highest rate in more than 25 years. The state's jobless rate, adjusted for seasonal changes, rose to 6.2 percent in January from 5.4 percent in December, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

Maryland's unemployment rate spiked to a 15-year high in December as the economy continued to falter, causing the state to lose jobs during a 12-month period for the first time since 2003. The jobless rate jumped to 5.8 percent last month, according to preliminary statistics released yesterday by the U.S. Labor Department. Maryland ended the year with 15,000 fewer jobs than in December 2007, the largest year-over-year loss since September 1992 and the first in five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Maryland's jobless rate climbed to 5.3 percent last month, keeping it at a more than 12-year high, the Labor Department said yesterday. It was the worst unemployment rate for the state since January 1996, when it hit 5.4 percent, and the number reflected the worsening turmoil in the financial, credit and housing markets. "It's to be expected in light of worsening economic conditions," said Daraius Irani, director of applied economics for the RESI consulting arm of Towson University. "Maryland is going to get hit, and going forward will see an increase in the unemployment rate."

The economic crisis pushed Maryland's jobless rate to a 12-year high in October, the Labor Department said yesterday, but economists said even modest growth in the labor force kept unemployment from spiking further. Maryland's unemployment rate hit 5 percent for the first time since April 1996, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It increased from 4.6 percent in September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, continuing a climb tied to turmoil in housing, credit and the financial markets.

Maryland's unemployment rate rose in September to 4.6 percent, the Labor Department said yesterday. That continues a climb tied to turmoil in the national economy. The state's jobless rate increased from 4.5 percent in August, on a seasonally adjusted basis, making Maryland one of 21 states to record month-to-month increases in joblessness in September. More than 138,000 Maryland residents are seeking work but are unable to find it, a 33 percent jump since the beginning of the year, the federal government said.

The economic ill health vexing most of the nation is creeping into a state that had thought itself immune. Maryland's unemployment rate ratcheted up in a big way last month for the second time this year, jumping to 4.4 percent from 4 percent in June, the Labor Department said yesterday. The jobless rate had reached 4 percent in May when it rose from 3.6 percent, another unusually large increase. Just over 130,000 Marylanders were looking for work but unable to find it in July, according to the preliminary numbers, which are adjusted to account for seasonal variations.

Maryland's unemployment rate hit 4 percent last month for the first time in 2 1/2 years as the national slowdown continued to take its toll, the federal government said yesterday. The rate jumped from 3.6 percent in April, a big one-month leap. Still, economists say 4 percent isn't high unemployment by any means. It's substantially below the nationwide rate, which rose to 5.5 percent from 5 percent last month. Joblessness worsened in all states except Louisiana, the Labor Department said.

Racketeering claims filed The Massachusetts owner of a Sparrows Point shipyard and certain affiliates were given two weeks to answer racketeering claims filed against them two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. If they don't, the defendants face a default judgment of up to $2.25 million, according to court documents. Jobless rate rises in Md. Unemployment in Maryland rose and job growth slowed last month as national economic troubles touched off by the slumping housing market continued to take a toll.