According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor via Data Commons Maryland’s current unemployment rate is at 4%. The last time it was at 4%ds was just before the Covid19 Pandemic hit the state, in January of 2020. According to state data In May 2022, Maryland’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.2% to 4.0%, while the national rate remained at 3.6%. The State’s labor force participation rate, which is the number of employed and unemployed workers divided by the civilian population number, was 65.7. Of the 3,203,076 civilian workers in Maryland, 3,075,564 were employed and 127,512 were unemployed. According to Federal data, 128 thousand people were unemployed in May. The latest data for those who filed unemployment insurance claims are for this past July 2nd, or six days ago. That figure is 19 thousand. Maryland unemployment claims were at their peak in May of 2020, at just under 300 thousand.
This contrasts with national figures that were released by the U.S. Department of Labor yesterday. More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and while layoffs remain low, it was the fifth consecutive week that claims topped the 230,000 mark and the most in almost six months.
Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 2 rose to 235,000, up 4,000 from the previous week and the most since mid-January, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally track with the number of layoffs. Until early June, claims hadn’t eclipsed 220,000 since January and have often been below 200,000 this year.
The four-week average for claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, inched up by 750 from the previous week to 232,500.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending June 25 rose by 51,000 from the previous week to 1,375,000. That figure has hovered near 50-year lows for months.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong.
