Unemployment fell in 11 states — including Maryland — last month.
Virginia’s December unemployment rate, however, was unchanged.
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Maryland’s statewide unemployment rate in December was 3.5%, down from 3.6% in November, and down from 3.7% a year earlier.
Virginia’s unemployment rate held steady in December at 2.6%, but was down from 2.8% in December 2018.
Both Virginia and Maryland ended 2019 with more jobs than a year earlier: Maryland’s non-farm employment totaled 2,790,700 at the end of December, a gain of 31,000 — a job growth rate of 1.1%. Virginia ended the year with 4,008,600 non-farm payroll jobs, up 45,200 from a year earlier — a job growth rate of 1.1%
South Carolina, Utah and Vermont all tied for the lowest state unemployment rate in December, at 2.5%.
Alaska still has the highest state unemployment rate: It was 6.1% in December.
