Maryland's unemployment rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent in August, down slightly from 4.8 percent in July but still above an eight-year low of 4.5 percent reached in June.

The unemployment rate is the percentage of people who say they want a job but can't find one.

For most of the 1990s, Maryland's unemployment rate was lower than that of the country, but that changed recently as national economic growth surged. The national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in August.

The last time Maryland unemployment was lower than 4.5 percent was 1990, when it briefly reached 4.4 percent.

For the metropolitan Baltimore area, students returning to colleges and other factors reducing the available labor force pulled the unemployment rate down to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent.

In Baltimore, unemployment was 9.8 percent, highest in the region. In Howard County, unemployment was 2.8 percent, lowest for the region. Montgomery County had the lowest unemployment in the state, at 2.2 percent.

Pub Date: 10/03/98