Maryland's unemployment rate rose to 7.5 percent last month as employers continued to cut jobs, the Labor Department said Friday.

The unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in November, according to revised figures from the federal government. Joblessness rose last month as employers cut 8,700 positions. The government estimates -- which are preliminary -- have been adjusted to try to account for normal seasonal changes in hiring and layoffs.

All told, 220,000 Marylanders were actively looking for work last month and not finding it.

The state's unemployment situation remains better than the nation's, which had a jobless rate of 10 percent last month. Maryland's 7.5 percent rate tied for 14th lowest in the country, about half as bad as Michigan but significantly above North Dakota. That Midwestern state had a 4.4 percent unemployment rate, best in the nation.