ECONOMY

Maryland has three foreign trade zones, (federally mandated, duty free sites). They are located at the Collington Business Center near Bowie in Prince George's County (#63); near BWI Airport (#73); and near Baltimore Harbor (#74). Since 1982 zone space has grown from 60,000 sq. ft. to 2 million sq. ft. Maryland also has 34 State Enterprise Zones, and a Federal Empowerment Zone. All zones offer businesses economic or tax incentives.

Among all states, Maryland's workforce is the best educated. A third of its population aged 25 or older holds a bachelor's degree or higher. More than 146,455 businesses employ 2.29 million workers who earn an annual payroll of $76 billion. Some 3,494 of these businesses employ 100 or more workers. Of private sector employees, 8.1% are union members.

Maryland's private sector provides 225,000 technology jobs. There are over 6,500 technology companies with an estimated payroll of $11 billion in Maryland. State and local revenues of approximately $629 million are generated by these companies.

Most Marylanders - 86% - work in the widely defined service-producing sector. This category ranges from government positions to transportation-related professions, from wholesale trade to the finance and insurance industry. Service careers top this list with 32% of the workforce in the health, legal and education fields. One in five residents work in retail trade or for the government. Major employers include ARINC, Bethlehem Steel, Computer Sciences Corp., General Motors, Giant Food, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, McCormick & Co., Northrop Grumman, and Perdue Farms, Inc..

Manufacturing in Maryland is led by the printing and publishing industry which provides 28,772 jobs, followed by the food and kindred industry (21,565), the machinery industry (15,952, excluding electrical), and the chemical industry (14,168). State exports total some $6 billion worth of mostly transportation equipment and industrial machinery.

Recent economic trends show a rebound from an economic recession that peaked in the early 1990s. Factors behind the recession included reduced federal spending on defense, less government subcontract work, and a 16.8% reduction since 1992 of federal workers employed in Washington, DC, many of whom reside in Maryland. Throughout this time, Maryland has retained its AAA bond rating.

Per-capita personal income grew 5.0% in 1998 and ranked 5th in the nation at $30,023 per year. The average weekly wage for combined total employment in Maryland was $640 in 1998. Most Marylanders, who work in the service or retail trades, earned an average weekly paycheck of between $345 and $622. The unemployment rate was 4.6% in 1998.

With an increase of 57,700 jobs in 1999, Maryland's job growth exceeded the national rate (2.2%) for the first time since 1988. Maryland's 2.5% increase ranked it 16th among the states. For the last three years, the State's average gain has been 57,000 jobs annually. In 1998, employment in high technology grew to 146,609 jobs, a 4.8% increase for the year, and outpaced total job growth in the private sector by 2.3 percentage points. High tech jobs cross major industry divisions and account for 7.8% of total private sector employment.

Federal agencies located in Maryland have been a catalyst for the State's technology base. These include the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Department of Defense operations. Advanced technology enterprise is especially strong in telecommunications, computer sciences, and biotechnology.

Research parks facilitate joint research among universities, State and federal government institutions, and private industry. These parks include: The Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus (life sciences research) in Baltimore; and Shady Grove Life Sciences Center (biomedical & life sciences research) in Montgomery County, which holds the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology, part of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Other members of the Institute are the Center of Marine Biotechnology, the Medical Biotechnology Center, the Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, and the Maryland Sea Grant College. Also significant are the Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, both affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University. University of Maryland Baltimore County Research Park and Technology Center (life sciences & high technology research) on the Catonsville campus opened in 1996 to support high technology business development. In addition, University of Maryland Baltimore County is leading a consortium of universities and private sector companies to develop the Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center. Center faculty and staff will collaborate with Goddard scientists in studying the earth's surface, atmosphere, and oceans.

Sources for this data and additional information about Maryland's economy are available from the Department of Business and Economic Development, and the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. Socio-economic data about Maryland may be found through Planning Data Services, Office of Planning. Regional economic data may be found at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Information about Smart Growth, Maryland's plan to revitalize older developed areas and discourage sprawling development into the state's rural areas, is accessible through the Office of Planning.

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Dept. of Commerce

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