Recent data on Maryland job growth contained a puzzling spike in local government jobs, but experts agree the data is likely an aberration, rather than reflecting any sudden trend in government employment. From coverage in the Baltimore Sun:

Maryland’s growth in February spread across almost all major sectors, from construction to professional and business services, according to the Labor Department’s seasonally adjusted figures. But government agencies accounted for a large chunk — about 40 percent.

The 4,500-job gain in that sector — which came almost entirely at the local-government level — struck [University of Baltimore’s Richard] Clinch as a potential statistical hiccup, given that government shed jobs in three of the previous four months. The figures are estimates drawn from surveys and can be revised later.

“There’s nothing that we have heard that would trigger such growth,” said Andrea Mansfield, legislative director at the Maryland Association of Counties. “Things haven’t turned around that much.”

Read the full Sun blog article online (limited free views available).