The state's labor market brightened as the holidays began last month with the addition of 3,800 jobs, the strongest payroll growth in the state in months.
The unemployment rate statewide fell to 5.6 percent in November, below the national average for the first time since July, according to the newest figures, released Friday by the Department of Labor. The national average was 5.8 percent last month. The agency also revised October's hiring up to 2,800 jobs, double the initial estimate.
"This is a significant turnaround for the state given that it had been trailing the nation since this past August," wrote Daraius IraniÖ, chief economist at the Regional Economic Studies Institute at Towson University, in a report Friday on the latest jobs numbers. "But let's not pop the cork before the ball drops; the big question going into 2015 is whether or not job prosperity will continue."
R. Andrew Bauer, a Baltimore-based economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of RichmondÖ, said it's too early to say Maryland has turned the corner.
"But you've definitely seen a shift in momentum," Bauer said. "I'm hopeful that in 2015 we'll start to see some more strengthening across the board."
Maryland's job creation for much of the year has lagged, even as the rest of the country has enjoyed a sustained stretch of growth. The national economy has added more than 200,000 jobs each month for 10 straight months.
The number of jobs nationwide increased last month nearly 2 percent year-over-year, while the number of people working or looking for work — a figure that had been declining —started to stabilize.
In the Maryland economy, by contrast, the number of jobs rose just half a percentage point year-over-year in November. While unemployment dropped, so did the number of people in the labor force — by about 4,100 people.
"The decline in the unemployment rate — it's not as good as it looks at first glance," said Gus Faucher, senior economist for PNC Financial Services GroupÖ. "That means that people just aren't seeing the opportunities in the Maryland labor market that they are in other places."
In November, the state's trade, transportation and utilities sector showed the strongest growth, accounting for 2,600 of the new jobs.
"This jump in employment comes as no surprise given the high level of activity at the port of Baltimore, which just this month reported handling record numbers of cargo containers in October," Irani wrote.
The trend in transportation and warehousing job growth should continue as shippers switch to East Coast ports to avoid congestion and delays on the West Coast, Irani said.
Rupert DenneyÖ, general manager of global logitics services firm C. Steinweg Inc., which employs 65-70 people in the Baltimore area, said the end of the year often means a flurry of business, even apart from the Christmas rush, as people hurry to fulfill annual contracts.
Amazon has hired "hundreds" of people at its sortation center, one of two new warehouses in East Baltimore, said spokeswoman Nina Lindsey. Hiring has not yet started for the firm's larger fulfillment center nearby, which remains under construction, she said.
Even some tiny transportation firms are looking to hire.
Epic Courier LLC — founded by a Baltimore-based group of former bike messengers— started operations in April catering to a largely legal clientele and hopes to expand into a broader range of clients as the on-demand, consumer economy gains traction, said employee-owner Ken MoralesÖ.
The firm has four full-time staff and expects to hire one or two people in the next month, with more possible.
"In a lot of bigger cities … there's this big renaissance in the courier culture," Morales said. "We decided there was a niche."
The professional and business services sector — a catch-all category that includes the IT industry and government contractors — also added 1,200 jobs in November, a sign that the effects of slower growth in federal spending have started to be absorbed, Bauer said.
But growth in other areas was slow, with losses in sectors such as leisure and hospitality; education and health services; and manufacturing.
"One of the strengths of this particular region is going to be our location," Bauer said. "Outside of those particular categories … it was a fairly weak report."
Maryland's labor market may not be growing as fast because some of the state's most important industries — such as education and health care — are not tied closely to economic ups and downs, Faucher said.
Joe Gonzales, regional vice president for Robert HalfÖ, a staffing services firm that places people in positions in fields such as accounting and office administration, said health care firms still are dealing with uncertainty from health care reform.
"There's so much unknown with all of the changes that are coming through with affordable health care, I think people are still getting in rhythm with what effect is this going to really have for us," he said.
But Gonzales said jobs postings and hiring have picked up, even for full time positions.
"We've definitely seen companies get more confident in snapping up really competent people," he said.
Cuts to state spending could shape economic performance next year, Bauer said.
But he said he expects to see a slightly stronger labor market next year, with a job creation rate closer to that of the rest of the country.
"I think we're going to cut the gap a good bit," Bauer said. "We'll move from under 1 percent job growth to 1 percent or higher."
nsherman@baltsun.com