Howard County unemployment hit a new record high in June, though the county continues to have among the lowest unemployment rates in Maryland, according to state figures released Friday.

The county’s unemployment rate climbed from 5.1 percent in May to 5.8 percent in June, the highest unemployment rate on record for the county. Montgomery County was the only county with a lower rate, with 5.7 percent unemployment.

Howard's unemployment rate amounts to about 9,100 people out of work, according to the state Division of Workforce Development.

Federal statistics, which date back to 1990, show Howard County never reached 5 percent unemployment until this year. Last year’s average unemployment rate was 3.1 percent.

Howard County’s climb also mirrors the state as a whole, which saw its unemployment rate climb from 7.1 percent in May to 7.5 percent in June. Baltimore City has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 11 percent.

Compared to the rest of the country, however, Maryland is doing comparatively well when it comes to jobless numbers. The national unemployment rate has been rising steadily all year, climbing to 9.5 percent in June.

Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of the Sage Policy Group, an economic consulting firm based in Baltimore, said the rising number of jobless people in recent months could be due, in part, to the recent influx of high school and college graduates entering the job market. People who left their jobs during better economic times also are trying to re-enter the labor force, he said.

His prediction is that unemployment will likely peak by mid-2010 with the economy beginning a slow recovery in the latter half of 2009.

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