County Jobless Rate On Rise

BERLIN – At 14.6 percent, Worcester County has the worst unemployment rate in the state of Maryland for November, surpassing the next worst jurisdiction by 2.7 percentage points.

County unemployment rates for last month, released this week, show that the local jobless rate has surpassed last year’s, with 14.6 percent out of work in November 2009, compared to 11.3 percent in November 2008, according to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.

According to the most recent figures, 3,728 people in Worcester County were out of work in November.

The lowest county unemployment rates this year have come in June, July and August, which hit the lowest jobless rate for the year at 6.8 percent.

In the 11 months of 2009 recorded so far, unemployment has averaged 10.9 percent in Worcester County. In all of 2008, unemployment in the county averaged 7.5 percent.