Rate Fell

Maryland's unemployment rate dropped again in December, to 4.5 percent, its lowest since May 1990 and a decline of three-tenths of a point from November, the state Department of Economic and Employment Development said yesterday.DEED officials said the drop was due to normal Christmas hiring by retail stores and other seasonal factors. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the November-December decline was from 4.9 to 4.7 percent.It is "encouraging" that "manufacturing hours and wages continue to increase, and retail sales and new automobileregistrations continue to run well ahead of last year's levels," said James D. Fielder Jr., acting DEED secretary.

CHICAGO - In a bit of good economic news that drew only limited attention, the Labor Department said yesterday that U.S. employers added a net 169,000 jobs in August, and the nation's unemployment rate declined to a four-year low of 4.9 percent. Yesterday's report of 169,000 new jobs for August landed short of the 190,000 that economists had been forecasting. But many elements were positive: The percentage of people in the work force rose 0.1 percentage point, to 66.2 percent, its highest level in two years.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell below 6 percent for the first time in more than two years in November, defying the usual late-autumn increase and suggesting that the state's economy is recovering far more powerfully than previously realized."

The latest census figures show that the poverty rate in Howard, the state's wealthiest county, is on the decline. But people who work helping Howard County's poor - from the homeless to the unemployed - say they are seeing more requests for help in recent years, partly because of higher housing costs, job losses and government cuts to services such as child care. "I think the biggest difference is the disparity is growing - the disparity between people who are growing in wealth and those in need," said Susan Rosenbaum, director of the county's Department of Citizen Services, which funnels money and support to a variety of private and public social-service agencies.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell in January to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent in the previous month, suggesting the state's economy is gradually beginning to produce more jobs after months of sluggish growth. The number of people without jobs fell by about 7,700 from December even as the civilian labor force grew to 2.95 million from 2.91 million during the month, according to federal Labor Department figures released yesterday. The unemployment rate for January was adjusted for seasonal differences and is equal to the rate recorded a year ago. Economists say the numbers suggest that Maryland largely escaped the recession that cast so many workers onto the unemployment rolls in the past few years.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell to 2.9 percent in April, the second-lowest rate on record and the ninth consecutive all-time monthly low, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said yesterday. The state's rate continued to beat the national average, which was 4.1 percent for the month. The state's rate is down from 3.0 percent in March and 3.4 percent in April 1999. The state's lowest unemployment rate since the department began tracking it in 1978 came in December 1999, when it reached 2.8 percent.

Carroll County's jobless rate fell slightly in August, but still is a full percentage point higher than a year ago.The county's unemployment rate fell from 3.6 percent in July to 3.3 percent in August, state development officials announced.That followed a statewide trend that saw Maryland's jobless rate fall slightly to 4.4 percent from 4.5 percent in July.But the county also followed Maryland in having more unemployed people this past August than a year ago. In August 1989, only 2.3 percent of the county's work force -- 3.7 percent statewide -- was without a job.Compared with August 1989, unemployment was higher in every county in Maryland this year.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in July, as a sharp gain in jobs was fueled by a strong summer-job market.The state's Department of Economic and Employment Development said the overall unemployment rate fell from 5.6 percent in June. But the seasonally adjusted rate, which eliminates summer job market fluctuations in businesses like tourism and construction, rose to 5.5 percent from 5.3 percent in June.DEED Secretary Mark L. Wasserman hailed the report as a sign of economic strength, but economists and business people were less enthusiastic.

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.

Maryland's unemployment rate slipped to 3.7 percent in March and remained near its lowest point of the decade, as the state's economy continued to add jobs and boost incomes, new government statistics showed yesterday.The March seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was slightly lower than February's 3.8 percent but higher than January's 3.6 percent, which was the best monthly unemployment rate since August 1989, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation."This is the strongest Maryland has looked this decade," said Anirban Basu, an economist who follows the state for RESI, an economics and consulting institute at Towson University.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the United States fell last week to 5.85 percent, the seventh decline in eight weeks, after a government report that showed slower-than-expected job gains last month, Freddie Mac said. The average 30-year loan dropped from 5.99 percent the previous week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate has fallen from an eight-month high of 6.34 percent reached in the second week of May. The rate also was 6.34 percent for the week at this time last year.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell in January to 4.3 percent from 4.6 percent in the previous month, suggesting the state's economy is gradually beginning to produce more jobs after months of sluggish growth. The number of people without jobs fell by about 7,700 from December even as the civilian labor force grew to 2.95 million from 2.91 million during the month, according to federal Labor Department figures released yesterday. The unemployment rate for January was adjusted for seasonal differences and is equal to the rate recorded a year ago. Economists say the numbers suggest that Maryland largely escaped the recession that cast so many workers onto the unemployment rolls in the past few years.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.66 percent last week as the Federal Reserve signaled it isn't likely soon to raise its benchmark lending target, Freddie Mac said. Other rates also declined. The 30-year rate for the week ending Friday compares with 5.72 percent the previous week and is down from 5.86 percent a year ago, according to the No. 2 purchaser of U.S. mortgages. Mortgage rates move with yields on government securities such as the 10-year Treasury note, for which yields have fallen on signs that inflation will remain low. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in congressional testimony Wednesday that low inflation will allow the central bank to remain "patient" before raising its overnight lending rate from 1 percent, the lowest since 1958.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell to 2.9 percent in April, the second-lowest rate on record and the ninth consecutive all-time monthly low, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said yesterday. The state's rate continued to beat the national average, which was 4.1 percent for the month. The state's rate is down from 3.0 percent in March and 3.4 percent in April 1999. The state's lowest unemployment rate since the department began tracking it in 1978 came in December 1999, when it reached 2.8 percent.

LOS ANGELES -- Actress Keri Russell says it was a "brave and liberating thing to do." Her boss, Susanne Daniels, the head of programming at the WB, thinks it was a knucklehead thing to do and says she doesn't want to see it happen ever again. We're talking about about Felicity's hair. With hundreds of channels and millions of possible shows to write about, the key to covering television is to know what matters. Felicity's hair matters. Over the summer, Russell, star of the WB's "Felicity," cut her long, curly hair, and six months later it is still one of the hottest topics of discussion on the Winter Press Tour.

Maryland's unemployment rate slipped to 3.7 percent in March and remained near its lowest point of the decade, as the state's economy continued to add jobs and boost incomes, new government statistics showed yesterday.The March seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was slightly lower than February's 3.8 percent but higher than January's 3.6 percent, which was the best monthly unemployment rate since August 1989, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation."This is the strongest Maryland has looked this decade," said Anirban Basu, an economist who follows the state for RESI, an economics and consulting institute at Towson University.

The county's unemployment rate dropped from 4.7 percent in November to 4.4 percent in December, following a trend in the Baltimore region.Howard's jobless rate was as high as 5.4 percent last summer.The jobless rate in the Baltimore region declined from 7.3 percent to 7 percent. The state's unemployment rate fell from 6.5 percent to 6.3 percent.Carroll and Queen Anne's counties were the only jurisdictions in the Baltimore region in which the jobless rate increased in December.The number of people employed in Howard in December increased by 633, from 90,428 to 91,061.