Investing in paper cargo will help create more
Maryland jobs.
The
State of Maryland recently signed a deal with
UPM-Kymmene, a Finnish paper maker, which will create 120 new
Maryland jobs at the Port of Baltimore. The move also will guarantee the port will see 3.2 million tons of cargo during the next 10 years, according to an article by the
Baltimore Business Journal.
The contract between the state and UP-Kymmene will help strengthen the
Maryland Port Administration's growth of forest products at the
South Locust Point terminal, a state-owned facility. The contract includes construction of a 300,000-square-foot custom-built warehouse. Baltimore's port ranks first in the nation in forest product imports, which made up about 15 percent of total cargo tonnage in 2007.
“Long-term contracts with global companies like UPM are the key in helping to support the thousands of good-paying, family-supporting jobs at the Port of Baltimore,”
Gov. Martin O’Malley said in the article. “Having an internationally-renowned paper manufacturer of UPM’s stature to continue to call the Port of Baltimore for 10 more years means 10 more years of
guaranteed jobs for the Port’s dedicated workforce.”
The Maryland Port Administration signed a contract with
M-real, another Finnish paper company, earlier this year. That contract resulted in the construction of a 215,000-square-foot warehouse and created a 10-year shipping agreement with Evergreen Marine, a container shipping company.
“We’re very excited about it,” MPA Executive Director James J. White said in the article. “What’s nice about this deal is when you have [a contract with] the manufacturer, you know you’re going to get the product and you know you’re going to have them long-term.”
Labels: Maryland Jobs
Employers continued to post a fair number of
Maryland job vacancies online in July, according to the most recent
The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. For every 100 people in the state's workforce there were 3.8 job announcements posted on the Internet. This means that Maryland is in the top 10 states in the nation for online help-wanted ads.
Nationally, the number of job vacancies posted by employers fell from June's revised 4,194,900 to 3,864,100, which is a large decline that was seasonally expected. The 330,800 jobs announcements lost translates to a 7.9 percent decrease. This marks the fifth month in a row that country has experienced a year-over-year decrease in the number of jobs advertised online.
"July is typically a slow month in terms of labor demand, but this month advertised vacancies were weaker than we would expect," said Conference Board Senior Economist Gad Levanon. "There is little evidence of any approaching turning point in labor demand. Changes in the volume of job advertising typically lead employment trends, and considering the declines in advertised vacancies for all of 2008, the outlook for the labor market remains gloomy -- exactly the sentiment weighing on consumer attitudes."
For every 100 individuals in the nation's workforce, there were only 2.5 jobs posted online. This shows that Maryland is doing significantly better than much of the country. Of the total unduplicated job vacancies posted by employers throughout America, 2,708,000 were new ads not posted in the previous month. According to the statistics, six of the nine regions recognized by the
Census Bureau showed year-over-year declines in the demand for new workers.
Alaska had the highest rate of ads posted online, with 4.99 Internet job announcements for every 100 people in the state's workforce. Statistics show that Wyoming employers had the smallest ration of jobs available, with less than 1 advertisement for every 100 workers in the state.
Nationally, healthcare continued to lead as the industry with the highest demand for new workers. "Many jobs in high demand are also, on average, among the highest paying occupations," said Levanon.
Overall, healthcare announced 527,200 job vacancies, computer and mathematical fields added 510,600, which means these two categories had more ads online than any other industries. According to the most recent statistics on average hourly wages throughout the country, healthcare practitioners made on average $31 an hour and computer and mathematical specialists made around $34 an hour. Other high demand occupations included management, with 474,200 announced job vacancies, office and administrative support, 441,400, and sales, with 338,900.
In Maryland, employment in the nonprofit sector is increasing almost three times as fast as for-profit business, according to a report released by
Johns Hopkins University in June. Statistics show that the workforce in this area grew by 2.9 percent in 2006, which is the most recent data. For-profit businesses were noted to have increased their employees by 1.1 percent. Statewide, nonprofit employers account for 9.6 percent of all jobs, which is well above the national average of 7.2 percent.
Labels: Maryland Jobs
Approximately 1,900 Maryland jobs were cut in April, according to federal estimates. This caused the unemployment rate to rise from 3.6 percent in March to 3.7 percent, which is still significantly below the national average but the highest Maryland's jobless rate has been since 2006. Figures from the federal government show that almost 110,000 residents were unable to find work in April, which is 1,800 more than the previous month.
Although employers nationwide have been cutting jobs in an attempt to keep their profits up through times of economic difficultly since January, this is the first notable decline in
Maryland jobs. Economist say that data on month-to-month job numbers do not always paint an accurate picture of an area's employment situation.
Nevertheless, Maryland jobs were not the only ones lost during April; 38 other states also saw employers do away with a substantial number of positions. Despite this, the Labor Department says that 31,500 Maryland jobs were created in the last 12 months.
President and Chief economist of
MBG Information Services in Washington says "job growth in Maryland continues to be remarkably strong." In the last 12 months the education and health services industry created 11,000 Maryland jobs, professional and business services added 7,000 positions, and the government sector was responsible for 8,400 jobs. The three industries that have been struggling throughout the country, manufacturing, financial activities, and construction all lost Maryland jobs over the last 12 months.
Currently there are plans in the work to move as many 60,000 government jobs to Maryland, which could easily help the area's economy. The positions are part of a Pentagon realignment arrangement, which has to be finalized by September 2011, but residents won’t have to wait that long for the plans to start creating
new Maryland jobs.
Governor Martin O'Malley recently signed legislation that will authorize the creation of "BRAC zones." These areas are now eligible to receive matching funds from the state for road upgrades and associated infrastructure work. New employees will likely be needed to handle to influx of labor this legislation will create.
In Montgomery County, where 2.500 jobs will be relocated to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, officials have decided that approximately $70 million in funds will be necessary to improve access to the hospital. Anne Arundel County, which will be getting 5,700 BRAC related
jobs, is expected to have $5 billion worth of work done around Fort Meade. It is unknown at this time how many Maryland jobs will be created to handle the work these and other counties will be doing to prepare for arrival of the BRAC positions.
Other Maryland jobs will also likely be created as a by-product of the relocations. When an area gets a significant number of new residents or jobs, the economy is often spurred by the money that is being spent through consumer spending. Because of this, many employers could easily see a need add new staff members to their payrolls in hopes of keeping up with new business.
Labels: Maryland Jobs
