State lost 5,700 jobs in March

Maryland employers shed about 5,700 jobs in March, a month when the nation experienced its weakest job growth since 2013, according to estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The March losses followed seven consecutive months of increased hiring in Maryland, as the state’s labor market — which had lagged behind the rest of the country — appeared to be picking up steam.

Payrolls in the public sector fell by 3,300, while the largest private-sector declines came in the professional and business services sector, which cut about 1,700 jobs. Jobs in the construction sector — often used as a bellwether for broader economic activity — declined by about 1,500, while manufacturing lost roughly 900 positions.

There were small gains in sectors such as financial activities, education and health services, and leisure and hospitality.

The unemployment rate in March was unchanged at 5.4 percent, just below the national average of 5.5 percent.

Daraius Irani, chief economist at Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute, said he is hopeful that the figures represent a temporary slowdown, as construction and tourism activity usually picks up in the spring.

“The national numbers sort of led the way,” he said. “I don’t think it portends anything too negative on the horizon. … Right now I’m going to say it’s an aberration.”

Maryland was one of 31 states to see payrolls decrease in March, the first time in 12 months that the U.S. added fewer than 200,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also revised its report for February, reducing the number of jobs added in Maryland by more than half, to 2,400 jobs instead of the 6,100 initially forecast. Estimates for the number of people in the workforce in February also were revised down by 1,000, reducing that month’s estimated unemployment rate to 5.4 percent.

State agencies sent alerts Tuesday about two Maryland employers, with conflicting messages that underscore the mixed economic climate.

On the one hand, Tempur Sealy International said it plans to expand its manufacturing and distribution operations in Hagerstown, adding 120 positions in addition to its current 112-person workforce.

At the same, Riverbed Technology, a San Francisco firm recently acquired by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, warned the state of layoffs of 69 people at its Bethesda location.

Nancy McCrea, research director at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, said she is not worried that the March figures signal the start of a longer slowdown.

“We don’t put that much stock into monthly changes,” she said. “What we really pay attention to is the year-over-year changes. What we’ve been seeing there is fairly steady growth.”

Maryland has added about 36,000 jobs since March 2014, including 32,100 in the private sector.

That’s a year-over-year growth rate of roughly 1.4 percent, well below the 2.3 percent national rate. Economists have explained that gap in part by pointing to the close ties between slow-growing federal spending and state business activity.