Suburban Maryland has a jobs problem — it added far fewer than previously thought, according to fresh jobs numbers.
Prince George’s, Montgomery, Frederick, Calvert and Charles counties added just 12,800 jobs in 2017, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the Stephen S. Fuller Institute at George Mason University. That is far fewer than the preliminary estimate of 22,400, and it comes as Northern Virginia saw its numbers grow over preliminary estimates.
Over the course of the year, larger job gains slowed and eventually led to a loss of 500 jobs in November and a loss of 3,900 jobs in December in the Maryland suburbs, according to the data. These were the first monthly declines since 2011.
“It seems as if the large professional business service sector that exists in D.C. and Northern Virginia isn’t quite as robust in suburban Maryland,” said Jeannette Chapman, deputy director and senior research associate at the Fuller Institute. “That has a ripple effect throughout the rest of the economy. It can quickly turn into a downward cycle instead of flattening out.”
She said the weaker Maryland numbers are something to keep an eye on, adding that it seems the BLS overestimated Maryland job growth in its preliminary estimates.