And if the Fed continues to cut rates quickly enough and deeply enough, Maryland's growth rate could accelerate to 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent next year, much better than a still-healthy U.S. average of 3.0 percent pace, Basu said. The current climate of falling interest rates plays to many of Maryland's strengths. Legg Mason Inc. A bull market would also restore the confidence of consumers, inducing them to spend more, which could reinvigorate the retail sector and auto sales. Home sales also would benefit. Rising stock prices should twist open the venture capital spigots and revive the market for initial public offerings, both crucial sources of financing for the so-called new economy companies that are increasingly making Maryland their home.
Genomics is one of Maryland's strengths in biotechnology.
In information technology, the state has perhaps become one of the world leaders in the fiber-optic equipment business. If Maryland's economy can expand at a pace that exceeds the national average, it follows that the pace of job growth in the state also will be greater than the average nationwide. That's what happened early last year but isn't happening now, underscoring the slowdown. Maryland's job-growth rate dropped from 3.2 percent in January last year to 2.3 percent in November, the most recent figures available. This year, job growth should average 1.5 percent, less than half the pace of January last year and only marginally better than the projected U.S. rate of 1.2 percent, said Pradeep Ganguly, chief economist for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.