Maryland one of nine states and D.C. to shed jobs in the past year

Maryland was one of nine states and the District of Columbia that lost jobs in the year ending in September, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hit hard by the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce, the District of Columbia suffered the largest percentage job loss, down 3.5% or 25,800 jobs.

Maryland and Virginia, also home to large numbers of federal workers, posted the third- and fourth-highest job losses for the year, according to the BLS data. It said Virginia lost 25,600 nonfarm jobs from September to September, a 0.6% loss, while Maryland lost 13,900 jobs over the year, a 0.5% loss in the state workforce.

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The biggest loser among states was Montana, which lost jobs for the first time since 2020. It shed 1% of its total workforce, or 5,300 jobs, the data showed. Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont all experienced declines of less than 1%.

The state that gained the most jobs was South Carolina, which added 55,200 jobs for a 2.3% increase in its labor force. It was followed by Louisiana (up 1.8%, or 36,000 jobs) and Nevada (up or 1.6% or 25,300 jobs).

South Carolina’s job growth was concentrated in construction, healthcare and the leisure and hospitality industries, said William Floyd, the state’s employment and workforce executive director, in a statement Tuesday.

In addition, car parts manufacturers in the state have been ramping up to supply a planned Scout Motors factory, which has already begun training workers. Hiring also has begun for a new BMW battery factory in the state.

Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at [email protected].

This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Maryland Matters, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.