Unemployment Rate Drops but Many Working Families Still Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Maryland’s standard of living is not increasing, even though more residents have jobs than at any point in recent history. The unevenness of recovery persists even with the average annual unemployment rate in Maryland at its lowest level since 2008.

It will become increasingly difficult for the state economy to thrive if only upper-income households are able to experience the state’s economic boom. This year, Maryland lawmakers have the opportunity to support working families by taking action on issues such as expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit for younger workers and requiring employers to provide paid sick leave.

Those are the kinds of policies Governor Hogan and the General Assembly should embrace to increase opportunity and help more families make ends meet.

Average annual employment fell in 2015 to 5.2 percent in Maryland, from  5.8 percent in 2014, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite the welcome news, Maryland’s economy still has a long way to go as it continues to recover from the Great Recession. Even with a falling unemployment rate, rising median household income, and workers who are more productive than ever, the overall standard of living has not increased.

In 2015, there were 17,000 fewer unemployed Marylanders than in 2014, and the percentage of working-age residents (16 through 64) who were employed improved slightly to 63.4 percent – almost 10 percentage points higher than the national average. The state’s labor force has continued to grow and is now larger than it has ever been, with 42,000 more residents gaining employment in 2015. This helped the state generate more revenue than projected in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015.

But the news is not all good. Maryland still has about 123,000 fewer jobs than it would have if job growth kept pace with population growth. In addition, many low-wage jobs have replaced higher-paying positons, preventing many Marylanders from climbing the economic ladder, despite being employed.

There are now more than 161,000 more Marylanders with incomes below the federal poverty line — $11,880 per year for a single person and $16,020 for a family of two — than nine years ago, according to the Census Bureau’s latest official data.

The bottom line: today there are two Marylands – one with thriving communities and another where too many people struggle to get by.