Residents of Maryland are working. In fact, they are doing it in record numbers.
According to the Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, there was an increase of 7,500 jobs from 2005 to 2006, the largest such jump in December since 2000. The number of employed in Maryland also jumped up to 2,612,100, an increase of 43,700 from 2005, and is the highest such number for the state since records began being kept in 1976.
“The local economy is fueled by the deficit spending of the federal government in Maryland,” said Stephen Walters, a professor of economics at Loyola College. “Maryland benefits from the fact that the federal government vacuums up money from the rest of the country and spends it here.”
In a report released this week by the United States Department of Labor Statistics, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Maryland is 3.8 percent, significantly better than the national average of 4.6 percent. The Maryland Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation expanded these statistics, adding that unemployment was lowest in Howard, Calvert and Montgomery counties.
“People are flooding here because there is so much labor demand and so much work to do,” Walters said. “There really is no evidence whatsoever that outsourcing is a significant problem.”
In specific fields, jobs in business and other professional services increased by eight positions since 2005 and careers in health jumped up by 10 spots, but construction jobs fell by two employment opportunities.
As a whole, the job market right now seems to benefit the employee, with the state of Maryland adding 36,400 jobs in 2006. The combination of a shrinking unemployment rate with a faster-growing job market offers a unique chance for employees to easily relocate if they are unhappy with their current position. Quincie Rivers, a vice president for Adecco, a global work force placement company with offices in Baltimore, has witnessed this trend.
“There are increase in voluntary turnover,” Rivers said. “When employees feel unappreciated or stretched too thin, they leave more readily. They can pick and choose what direction then want to go.”
