Maryland rate even lower; nearing ‘full employment’
Construction unemployment rates were down in 38 states and the nation, according to analysis released today by ABC National. Maryland’s rate, 5.2, is down 0.9 percent from a year ago and is 0.5 lower than the national average. Maryland is ranked 19th out of the 38 states that have seen lower unemployment rates.
“This is certainly good news,” said Mike Henderson, president of ABC Baltimore, “but it means the skilled labor shortage we’ve been grappling with off and on over the past several years is going to reach a crisis point. We hope to see these rates decrease even more in Maryland over the next few years,”
“From October 2010 through November 2016, the national construction unemployment rate has fallen from the previous year’s reading every month,” said Bernard M. Markstein, Ph.D., president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “The continued decline on a year-over-year basis in the unemployment rate nationally and in the majority of state rates is an indication of the health of the construction job market and its recovery from the deep recession it experienced. The demand for skilled construction workers remains especially strong leading into 2017.”
To see how other states rank, visit here!