Fed Study: Hogan’s Maryland is the Only State in USA with Declining Economy Over Next 6 Mos

A new report out from Market Watch citing data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows Governor Larry Hogan’s Maryland as the only state in the country that will see “economic activity deteriorate in the next six months.”
“It’s no surprise that Maryland’s economy is slumping under Governor Larry Hogan,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “He failed to stand up and stop President Trump’s damaging policies that hurt the state’s economy, from devastating tax hikes to massive worker shortages in the peak of crabbing season. Hogan broke his promise to protect 1,300 Discovery Communications jobs that left the state and he has repeatedly lost out to neighboring states in recruiting new companies. Larry Hogan has let down Maryland.”
See below for excerpts from Market Watch’s report, or read the full story online HERE.
There’s only one state where economic activity is forecast to deteriorate in the next six months
Maryland, not a poor state, has seen unemployment rate rise
There’s only one state expected to see economic activity deteriorate in the next six months, according to data released this week.
Hang your head, Free State — Maryland’s leading index fell 0.66%, according to data from the Philadelphia Fed.
The national average was for a gain of 1.51%, with Utah rising an impressive 4.36% and New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming each growing above 3%.
The Philadelphia Fed’s leading indexes is based on data including state-level housing permits, state initial jobless claims, delivery times from the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing survey, and the interest rate spread between the 10-year Treasury bond and the 3-month Treasury bill.
It forecasts not GDP growth per se but a coincident index, which combines four state-level indicators to summarize current economic conditions in a single statistic.
…It’s Maryland’s unemployment rate increase that is driving the increase. At 4.3% in March, the unemployment rate is 29th in the nation, but it’s climbed by a tenth each month this year.
…the Philadelphia Fed’s assessment isn’t wildly at odds with other data. While the Richmond Fed’s Maryland survey of business activity bounced back in April, the three-month average has dropped sharply over the past year.
Maryland’s economy grew at just a 1.2% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, the 43rd best, according to data released Friday by the Commerce Department. For all of 2017, Maryland’s economy grew 1.5%.