See The Unemployment Rate In Maryland As Labor Day Nears

MARYLAND — While the upcoming Labor Day holiday celebrates workers in Maryland and across America, many are still unemployed as the coronavirus pandemic nears its year-and-a-half mark.

The unemployment rate in Maryland in July was 6 percent, according to the latest state-by-state numbers available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

Maryland had the 16th highest unemployment rate in July, federal data shows, with 15 states and the District of Columbia reporting greater rates of jobless claims.

Maryland has gained 56,800 jobs since the beginning of 2021, according to the Maryland Department of Labor.

These industries have experienced the greatest growth, state officials say:

• Professional and business services sector
• Trade, transportation and utilities
• Leisure and hospitality
• Manufacturing
• Financial activities
• Mining, logging and construction

Education and health services experienced the greatest decline in July, with 5,700 fewer jobs, according to the state.

Unemployment in Maryland is still higher than it was in pre-pandemic days.

The annual unemployment rate for the state’s labor force in 2019 was 3.5 percent, according to the labor bureau.

Nationally the unemployment rate is 5.4 percent and was 4.8 points lower than in July 2020, the labor bureau's most recent jobs report shows.

“Notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, in local government education and in professional and business services,” the bureau wrote in a report issued in August.

The temporary, federal unemployment insurance programs will expire the week ending Sept. 4, giving some employers hope that many will come back to work.

The labor bureau’s August jobs report will likely be available Sept. 17.

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The national unemployment rate nearly tripled from the summers of 2019 to 2020, a clear result of shutdowns related to the pandemic.

Unemployment nationally skyrocketed from 3.7 percent to 10.2 percent from July 2019 to July 2020, according to the labor bureau.

Numbers from July 2021 do show unemployment across the country is down nearly a half from the year before, although continued job gains could be in jeopardy due to the recent surge in delta variant coronavirus cases.