The RESI Maryland Forecast predicts that national and local economies will register moderate growth in the near-term future. RESI estimates that Maryland?s economy grew at a 1.3 percent clip in 2004, up from the corresponding 0.3 percent rate recorded in 2003. Maryland is projected to expand its payrolls by more than 53,000 jobs or at a healthy 2.2 percent rate in 2005. Net job growth is expected to be the largest in the construction, business services, and health care sectors. It is further projected that the annual average unemployment rate for Maryland will fall to 3.8 percent in 2005, from 4.0 percent in 2004.
The Maryland Forecast assumes that the Federal Reserve?s current monetary policy (a policy of measured rate increases) will persist through mid-2005 and that corporate reticence with respect to business investment will continue to dwindle over the course of the year. Expectations for a constrained national fiscal policy (in terms of domestic programs) are also implicit in the February forecast.
For a more detailed report on the RESI Maryland Economic Forecast, please visit:
{http://wwwnew.towson.edu/outreach/resi/download/forecast05.pdf}
RESI, part of the Economic and Workforce Development Group in the Division of Economic and Community Outreach at Towson University, has been providing economic forecasts and analysis of Maryland and its regions for over 10 years. For more information, please contact John Hopkins at 410-704-6342 or {jhopkins@towson.edu}.
