Maryland posted its lowest unemployment rate in three years in January, the federal government announced Tuesday.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent in January from 6.6. percent in December, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor — nearly two percentage points below the 8.3 percent national jobless rate. The jobless rate has slowly but steadily fallen each month since August 2011.
“This steady progress in job creation is a positive sign that Maryland continues to move forward,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a statement. “Maryland has now recovered 69 percent of the jobs lost during the Bush recession.”
Employers in the state added 39,800 jobs in the year ending in January, though there was no significant change in the number of jobs for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows.
