January 10, 2024 | Posted in News
WELL, IN THIS MORNING’S CONSUMER ALERT, WE’RE LOOKING AT THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY HERE IN MARYLAND. COMPTROLLER BROOKE LIERMAN RELEASED HER REPORT LAST WEEK ANALYZING DATA. FROM 2016 TO 2023. SHE JOINS US LIVE THIS MORNING WITH MORE. GOOD MORNING. GREAT TO BE HERE. HAPPY NEW YEAR. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. WELL, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A REPORT LIKE THIS HAS EVER BEEN DONE IN OUR STATE. YOU’RE RIGHT. THE OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER NEVER PRODUCED A REPORT LIKE THIS. BUT WHEN I TOOK OFFICE, ONE OF MY GOALS WAS REALLY TO BRING MORE OF THE DATA FROM THE OFFICE AND ANALYSIS TO THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND AND TO OUR POLICYMAKERS. AND THAT’S WHAT WE’RE DOING HERE TODAY. AND THEN FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THIS REPORT? SO THE GOAL OF THIS REPORT WAS REALLY TO SPARK CONVERSATION AND COLLABORATION AMONG POLICYMAKERS, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS. THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND WRIT LARGE SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGES THAT OUR STATE ARE FACING IS FACING. AND THEN CONFRONT THEM HEAD ON AND REALLY CREATE A MORE INCLUSIVE ECONOMY, A RESILIENT ECONOMY OVER THE LONG TERME. AND WITH THAT BEING SAID, WHAT CHALLENGES DO WE FACE? WHAT IS THE STATE OF OUR ECONOMY? SURE. SO THIS IS OUR STATE OF THE ECONOMY REPORT AND, YOU KNOW, THE STATE OF OUR ECONOMY IS STRONG. WE HAVE A DIVERSE AND UNIQUE MIX OF INDUSTRY IN THE STATE. OF COURSE, STRONG RELIANCE ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, VERY THE LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN THE NATION. UM, BUT WE DO HAVE OUR CHALLENGES, PARTICULARLY IN OUR LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN OUR LABOR FORCE HAS GONE DOWN SINCE BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. AND EVEN THOUGH IT’S HIGHER THAN IN OTHER STATES, WE’RE STILL ABOUT FOUR POINTS BELOW WHERE WE WERE BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. WE’VE SEEN SOME WOMEN LEAVING THE WORKFORCE WHO HAVEN’T COME BACK. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN REJOIN IF THEY WANT TO, AND WE ARE A HIGH COST OF LIVING STATE AND HIGHER THAN SOME OTHER SURROUNDING STATES, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN AFFORD A HOUSE, THAT THEY CAN LIVE AND GROW THEIR FAMILY HERE IN MARYLAND AND RETIRE HERE AS WELL. NOW, THAT GROWTH THAT SLOWED DOWN, THAT WE STARTED TO SEE AROUND 2017, IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT? WHEN PEOPLE WERE MORE SO LEAVING THE WORKFORCE? YEAH, EXACTLY. AND WE’VE ALSO BUT MORE THAN THAT, WE IT HAS BEEN SINCE THE PANDEMIC, WE STARTED SEEING PEOPLE LEAVE THE WORKFORCE DURING THE PANDEMIC AND THEN NOT COME BACK. ABOUT 181,000 PEOPLE HAVE LEFT AND NOT RETURNED PRIMARILY IN THE AGE RANGE OF 25 TO 44, WHICH IS OUR MOST PRODUCTIVE PART OF THE WORKFORCE, WAS THAT UNDER THE MIGRATION CATEGORY. SO NOT NECESSARILY UNDER THE MIGRATION CATEGORY. SOME OF IT COULD BE THAT PEOPLE HAVE MIGRATED OUT, AND SOME OF IT COULD BE THAT PEOPLE HAVE DECIDED, YOU KNOW, NOT TO RETURN TO WORK FOR, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT REASONS. SOME A HYPOTHESIS FOR, FOR SOME OF THE WOMEN WHO’VE LEFT IS THE COST OF CHILD CARE HAS INCREASED SO MUCH THAT IT DOESN’T MAKE ECONOMIC SENSE TO GO BACK WHILE YOU HAVE KIDS AT HOME. ALSO. SO THE MIGRATION ISSUES REALLY REVOLVE AROUND THE HIGHER COST OF LIVING. SO WE SEE PEOPLE MIGRATING TO MARYLAND FROM HIGHER COST OF LIVING STATES, BUT WE’RE SEEING PEOPLE LEAVING MARYLAND TO LOWER COST OF LIVING STATES. AND A CENTRAL PIECE OF THAT IS REALLY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE BUILDING THE HOUSING STOCK. WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE NEXT GENERATION. AND I KNOW WE JUST TALKED ABOUT WOMEN A LITTLE BIT AND TALKING ABOUT CHILD CARE, BUT THEY WERE IMPACTED DURING THE PANDEMIC AS WELL. DO WE KNOW ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THAT? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO WOMEN WERE IN THE JOB SECTOR THAT LOST THE MOST JOBS AND WERE MOST SEVERELY IMPACTED DURING THE PANDEMIC. AND SO NOT ALL OF THOSE JOBS HAVE RETURNED. AND NOT ALL OF THE WOMEN HAVE RETURNED AS WELL. SOME WOMEN DID GO AND LOOK LOOKING FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY, STARTED THEIR OWN BUSINESSES AS. BUT THERE ARE SOME WOMEN WHO HAVE DROPPED OUT OF THE WORKFORCE WHO WE WOULD LIKE TO COME BACK IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A DEEPER LABOR POOL IN MARYLAND. SO YOU DECIDED TO DO THIS REPORT. WE NOW HAVE THE INFORMATION. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, RIGHT. WELL, AS I SAID, YOU KNOW, OUR GOAL IS REALLY TO SPARK COLLABORATIVE CONVERSATION. CONVERSATION WITH OUR POLICYMAKERS IN OUR STATE, YOU KNOW, LED BY OUR GOVERNOR, OUR GREAT GENERAL ASSEMBLY. THEY ARE ALL WORKING HARD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GROW MARYLAND AT A SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT WAY. AND THEY’VE ALREADY TAKEN BIG STEPS, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE MORE SUPPORT FOR CHILD CARE. I KNOW THEY’RE LOOKING AT HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AND HOUSING STOCK. SO REALLY WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE BUILDING A RESILIENT ECONOMY OVER THE LONG TERME. AND THIS IS THE QUESTION THAT I JUST THOUGHT OF. BUT IT JUST SEEMS, YOU KNOW, THAT MORE AND MORE OF MARYLAND IS BECOMING A D.C. SUBURB. IS THAT PART OF THE DRIVING COST OF LIVING AND HOW DO WE COMBAT THAT? WELL, IT’S AN INTERESTING POINT. WE ACTUALLY SEE PEOPLE MOVING FROM D.C. TO MARYLAND. UM, OFTEN THOSE ARE FOLKS WHO ARE LOOKING TO START A FAMILY. THEY’RE COMING FOR OUR GREAT SCHOOLS. THEY’RE COMING, UH, BECAUSE THERE IS A LOWER COST OF LIVING IN SOME PARTS OF MARYLAND THAN IN D.C. UM, AND SOME FOLKS ARE ABLE TO WORK REMOTELY NOW, OR AT LEAST IN A HYBRID FORMAT. SOME AREN’T. BUT IT IS. YOU KNOW, IT CERTAINLY IS A PIECE OF IT, BUT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE DOING THAT. WE HAVE THAT PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH HERE. AND, YOU KNOW, WE’RE LUCKY. WE HAVE AMAZING HIGHER ED INSTITUTIONS. WE OF COURSE, HAVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE HERE AS WELL. WE HAVE AMAZING MIX OF CYBER TECHNOLOGY, BIOTECH, UM, QUANTUM COMPUTING AND COLLEGE PARK. SO IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE BUILD ON THOSE INDUSTRIES AND MAKE SURE WE’RE GROWING OUR PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH HERE AS WELL, BECAUSE OUR POPULATION, OUR COMMUNITY ACROSS MARYLAND IS SO DIVERSE. WE HAVE REALLY HIGH INCOME AREAS, WE HAVE VERY LOW INCOME AREAS, VERY CITY, VERY RURAL. WE ARE JUST A MIXED BAG HERE. WE REALLY ARE. IT’S A FASCINATING STATE, RIGHT? WE’RE AMERICA IN MINIATURE IN MANY WAYS, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT AS WE GROW, WE’RE DOING IT THROUGHOUT, NOT JUST THROUGH FEDERAL GOVERNMENT JOBS, BUT ALSO PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH AS WELL, AND THAT WE’RE ABLE TO SUPPORT A A DIVERSE GROUP OF BUSINESSES ACROSS THE STATE OF MARYLAND. AND IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE REPORT THAT PARTICULARLY STUCK OUT FOR YOU? YOU KNOW, I DO THINK IT’S INTERESTING TO SEE, UM, I WILL SAY, THE WOMEN WHO HAVE LEFT THE WORKFORCE, WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THOSE WOMEN ARE STARTING THEIR OWN BUSINESSES. AND WHEN THAT IS HAPPENING, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WOMEN HAVE ACCESS TO CAPITAL AT THE SAME RATE AS THEIR MALE COLLEAGUES AND MALE PEERS, SO THAT THEY CAN GROW THEIR BUSINESSES AND CREATE NEW, THRIVING INDUSTRIES IN THE STATES. UM, AND I THINK THE HOUSING PIECE IS ALSO FASCINATING BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT WE NEED HOUSING AT ALMOST EVERY INCOME LEVEL IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND. AND THAT’S AN ISSUE WHERE WE NEED LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEADERS, BUSINESS LEADERS, STATE GOVERNMENT LEADERS TO ALL BE WORKING TOGETHER TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE SOLVE THAT CHALLENGE OF HOUSING MARYLANDERS. AND LAST QUESTION FOR ME, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THAT REPORT OR WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT REPORT, RATHER, AND WE THINK ABOUT ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT LEVELS THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED, ESPECIALLY REGARDING HOUSING, DOES THE REPORT BREAK IT DOWN TO THE DIFFERENT AREAS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT THIS. IS A MARRIAGE AMERICA IN MINIATURE? DOES IT BREAK IT DOWN BY THE DIFFERENT AREAS TO REALLY BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF EACH REGION OF MARYLAND? IT’S A GREAT QUESTION. SO HOW WE DEVELOP THIS REPORT WAS BOTH THROUGH QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS THROUGH FROM STATISTICS. WE HAVE IN THE OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, BUT ALSO WE DID ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS ALL OVER THE STATE. YOU KNOW, FROM SALISBURY TO FROSTBURG, NORTHERN MARYLAND TO SOUTHERN MARYLAND, THE CENTRAL REGION. AND WE TALKED TO BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS. AND SO WE HAVE SECTIONS IN THIS REPORT THAT TALK ABOUT THE FINDINGS AT EACH ROUND TABLE, UM, YOU KNOW, AND DETAILED DIFFERENT CHALLENGES AND IDEAS FROM THE WORK THAT ADVENTIST HEALTHCARE IS DOING TO FREDERICK HEALTH OVER ON THE SHORE. THERE’S A WHOLE THERE’S LOTS ABOUT OUR HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY AS WELL. UM, AND SO WE DO IT’S REALLY FASCINATING TO READ WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STATE TO MAKE IT WORK. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING. WE’RE GLAD YOU CAME TO BREAK THIS ALL DOWN FOR US AND CHAT ABOUT IT. IT’S GREAT TO BE HERE AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK. THANK YOU. YOU TOO. WELL, STILL AHEAD THIS MORNING CARRIE ENG