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Despite losing several thousand U.S. Census workers, Maryland continued its overall job gains in July, although more slowly than in the spring, according to figures released Friday.

The state's private sector added 3,400 jobs last month, more than in June but well below the private gains in May, April and March. The July private increase more than offset the net loss of 2,900 public jobs, due largely to the loss of temporary Census Bureau workers. The 500-job net gain was the state's smallest in the last five months.

Nationally, private employers gained 71,000 jobs in July, but that was not enough to offset a loss of 202,000 government workers, mostly with the Census. The large majority of states added enough private jobs last month to offset the loss of Census workers. Virginia added 9,000 private jobs for a net gain of 4,500. Washington, D.C., was one of the few jurisdictions to gain government jobs in July with a boost of almost 9,000 to go with a private-sector increase of about 9,000.

Overall, the report should be seen as positive for Maryland, said Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm Sage Policy Group.

"The jobs gain would have been greater had there not been a decline in public jobs, and many of those jobs lost were public, temporary Census workers," Basu said. "Private-sector growth was reasonably robust. ... Since early in the year, Maryland's job performance has been reasonably strong. The Maryland labor market is in better shape than the one nationally."

Most of the states that lost jobs last month saw substantial losses. North Carolina lost almost 30,000 positions and New Jersey some 21,000. More than 85 percent of the losses in North Carolina and New Jersey were public jobs.

Maryland's unemployment rate of 7.1 percent last month was unchanged from June and was significantly below the national rate of 9.5 percent. The state had the 13th lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

The state's job gains were particularly seen in private education services and health care with 5,600 and 2,600, respectively. The retail and entertainment sectors saw gains of more than 1,000.

Besides the federal government, losses occurred in construction with 2,100, administrative with 1,700 and hotels with 1,300.

Since January, Maryland employers have added about 40,000 jobs to their payroll, a higher pace than nationally. In recent weeks, new developments have included the State Center 15-year redevelopment project in downtown Baltimore, expected to bring nearly 10,000 jobs during construction and about 5,400 permanent, private-sector jobs.

Companies that gave the state notice of layoffs recently include financial services giant JP Morgan Chase, which said it will idle 561 employees at the credit card center in Frederick it plans to shutter by late September. Solo Cup, a Lake Forest, Ill., maker of products such as paper cups and containers, gave the state notice that it plans to begin shutting down a 551-employee plant in Owings Mills in October and complete that by early 2012.

New solar jobs training program

On Monday, officials with the state Governor's Workforce Investment Board launched Go Solar!, a new solar energy training program funded through a $5.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The program, which involves the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Anne Arundel Community College and the Independent Electrical Contractors-Chesapeake, will train entry-level workers for jobs in this emerging field in Odenton. Completion will prepare workers for the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners solar installer certification and placement in an electrical apprenticeship or solar job.

Skilled installers are in high demand, according to a state news release. Maryland has a goal of creating at least 100,000 environmentally friendly jobs by 2015.

Solar energy and other facets of the green economy could be a big industry in the near future, Basu said.

"There is tremendous global competition," he said. "Many more jobs are expected to be created as more structures become solar compatible. It's good to see Maryland in the position of competing for these jobs."