Though it may not always look like it, in some ways the economy is recovering. Given the amount of money currently in Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund relative to how much is needed to pay out unemployment claims, about half of all employers in the state will see a significant reduction in their unemployment insurance tax rate. According to the Sun, “a top-rated employer with 100 workers that paid $18,700 in 2012 will pay $2,550 in 2014.”
This puts Maryland’s unemployment tax right up there (right down there?) with among the lowest rates in the country. That’s after three years (starting in 2010) of paying the some of the highest, when unemployment claims were many and the coffers were strained.
And if you don’t mind, Gov. Martin O’Malley would like to some of the credit: “Progress doesn’t happen by chance, but by the choices we’re making together to build a strong, growing and resilient economy.”
I don’t know; I think there’s an argument to made for chance here.
