Maryland’s economy kept adding jobs in June, according to federal data released Tuesday, a modest gain that offers some reassurance to Southern Maryland communities still absorbing the effects of federal workforce reductions tied to the region’s heavy concentration of government and defense jobs.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that Maryland’s total nonfarm employment rose by 900 jobs in June, while the agency revised its earlier estimate for May downward by 1,100 jobs, trimming that month’s gain to 4,000. Combined, the state has added 17,800 jobs through the first half of 2026, growing at a rate of 0.64% — nearly double the 0.35% pace of national job growth over the same period, according to BLS figures.
Maryland’s unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.3% in June, just above the national rate of 4.2%. The state’s labor force participation rate held at 63.9%, well above the 61.5% national average, a gap Maryland officials have pointed to as evidence that more of the state’s working-age population remains engaged in the job market than in much of the country.
For Southern Maryland, where the economy leans heavily on federal installations, defense contracting and related industries, the statewide numbers carry particular weight. Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County and other federal facilities across St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties employ thousands of residents directly or through contractors, meaning shifts in federal hiring ripple quickly through local businesses and household spending. St. Mary’s County has historically posted lower unemployment than the state as a whole — the county’s rate stood at 3.7% as recently as January — a trend tied to steady military and related employment even as broader federal job cuts have weighed on Maryland’s public sector over the past year.
June’s statewide job gains were concentrated in government and services. Government employment rose by 1,300 jobs overall, made up of a 300-job increase in federal employment and a 1,000-job gain in state and local government — a notable reversal after federal payrolls had been a persistent drag on Maryland’s job totals for much of the past year. Private educational services added 1,100 jobs, matched by an identical gain in professional, scientific and technical services, a sector that includes many of the engineering and technical contracting firms clustered around Southern Maryland’s naval and defense installations. Other services rose by 600 jobs, and health care and social assistance, one of the state’s most consistent sources of job growth, added another 600.
Those gains were partly offset by losses elsewhere in the economy. Transportation, warehousing and utilities shed 1,900 jobs, the state’s steepest sectoral decline in June, followed by manufacturing, down 700 jobs; retail trade, down 600; wholesale trade, down 400; and administrative and support and waste management and remediation services, also down 400.
The June report follows a bumpier stretch earlier in the year. Maryland lost 5,500 nonfarm jobs in February, a decline BLS attributed partly to delayed seasonal adjustments following the winter holidays, before combined January-February data showed a modest net gain of 3,300 jobs. Federal employment losses were a significant driver of public-sector weakness during that period, even as private-sector hiring in the state outpaced the national rate. Statewide unemployment held at 4.3% in February and rose slightly to 4.4% by April before easing back down in the following months.
Wage data released by BLS in June for the fourth quarter of 2025 underscored Southern Maryland’s relatively strong footing within the state’s smaller counties. St. Mary’s County posted the highest average weekly wage, $1,708, among Maryland’s 16 smaller counties — those with total employment below 75,000 — reflecting the concentration of well-paying federal, defense and technical jobs in the region even as several of the state’s larger counties, including Montgomery, saw year-over-year employment declines.
State labor officials have not yet released county-level breakouts for June, but regional workforce agencies serving Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties have continued efforts to diversify local employment beyond federal and defense work, promoting growth in advanced manufacturing, life sciences and renewable energy as a hedge against future federal budget volatility.
The Maryland Department of Labor noted that its website draws employment data directly from BLS servers and may lag slightly behind the federal source. Residents seeking the most current figures can consult the BLS website directly or the department’s employment situation page.
