Howard County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leonardo McClarty said the numbers in the federal government’s latest jobs report are both “favorable and encouraging” and that he expects Maryland’s economy to improve as the state enters the final stage of its coronavirus recovery plan.

“The jobs report is favorable and encouraging,” McClarty told MarylandReporter.com in an email on Friday. “I do expect things will get better in Maryland now that we have moved to phase 3. This move to the next phase is extremely important for restaurants and hospitality. It still remains to be seen how that impacts sales as many patrons are still hesitant to meet in large groups or patronize establishments where outside seating is unavailable.”

The report was released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday morning. It said that in August 1.4 million jobs were added to the economy and that the unemployment rate dropped from 10.2% to 8.4%. The economy grew by 1.8 million jobs in July, according to the department.

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