STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON SEPTEMBER JOBS REPORT

ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 21, 2011) –Governor Martin O’Malley issued this statement following the U.S. Department of Labor’s release of preliminary employment data for the month of September. The report shows that Maryland employers added 6,800 jobs. In the private sector alone, the State ended the month with 10,000 more jobs, the 3^rd highest private sector growth rate in the nation. Maryland’s unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 7.4 percent, and remains nearly 20 percent below the national rate of 9.1 percent. 

“Job creation is our number one priority. In Maryland, after the strongest September job creation performance since 2005, we have added a total of 20,000 new jobs since January. Despite these positive trends, our unemployment rate, even though it remains one of the lowest in the nation, shows that we have far too many jobless Marylanders.”

“One of the ways in which we can create jobs is by cutting bureaucratic red tape so that small businesses can create jobs and expand opportunity. That’s why, earlier this week, I signed an Executive Order requiring all State agencies to conduct a 60-day review of State regulations to determine which we could reform or eliminate to spark faster job creation.” 

“To create jobs, a modern economy requires modern investments. While 95 percent of the jobs we have created this year are in the private sector, we have lost 3,600 jobs in local government on the year. We intend to bring a package of reforms to the General Assembly in January to make the investments in infrastructure, school construction, and other shovel-ready projects that are necessary to create jobs throughout our State. The most important job we create is the next one.”