Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · MD NONMETROPOLITAN AREA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Key Indicators
Maryland unemployment at 4.1% vs Virginia 3.6% and Pennsylvania 3.7%
Bureau of Labor Statistics — State unemployment rate comparison, August 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Maryland lost 8,200 net payroll jobs in August after +10,200 in July
Bureau of Labor Statistics — State nonfarm payroll employment report
Maryland lost 5,500 net payroll jobs over the trailing 12 months
Bureau of Labor Statistics — 12-month state payroll employment change
Local Economic Conditions
Maryland labor force participation fell to 63.7%, a 10-year low
Maryland Department of Labor / BLS — State labor force participation data, August 2026
Looking Ahead
96 WARN notices affected 6,538 workers statewide in 2026, down 48% YoY
Maryland Department of Labor — WARN Act notice tracking, 2026 YTD
Governor Moore set $18/hour minimum for MAA contract workers at BWI
Office of the Governor of Maryland — September 7, 2026 policy announcement
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison