At recovery.org, you can see exactly how many jobs
have been created in each state from stimulus funding
Posted by: Noel Jones
As I reported in an earlier post, there are finally some answers coming for those of us who have been wondering what's up with the promised job creation of the president's stimulus package this year. Lay-offs at state levels caused bottle-necking of funds, because they found themselves too short-handed to process the money and divvy it up among various shovel-ready projects. But as reported in a recent article in The New York Times, those bottle-necks are finally opening up, the funding is starting to come through and jobs are being created.
How many jobs? To find out exactly how many jobs have been created in each state, you can check the web site for the Recovery Act and roll your cursor over the interactive map they
have provided. I rolled over Pennsylvania and found out that 12,249 jobs have already been created in our state. Now that may not seem like many to some people, and certainly not as many as promised, but that is 12,249 people that now have jobs that otherwise would be jobless right now. And the good news is that's with less than 1/6 of the stimulus money coming our way this year. So at this rate, by the time all the money comes through, over 72,000 more jobs are on the way for Pennsylvanians.
What do you think? Are you disappointed? Impressed? Still waiting to see if it all comes through? Post a comment--and please back it up either with research or personal experience--thanks!
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6 comments:
Those jobs haven't been created. Funds have been appropriated which may create those jobs at some point in the future, but checks haven't been written to recipients and contractors for the total amount yet. Just because it has been "budgeted" or even if the dollars have moved from a federal coffer to a state coffer doesn't mean that it affected unemployment. Obamanomics. Not good.
The latest nationwide employment rate, 9.7%, is one of the many gov't statistics which is suspect. Since those who have stopped actively seeking employment are excluded from that figure, and their ranks grow month-to-month, doesn't that skew the number lower significantly?
Let's focus on Easton. In the last 3 - 6 months, have you noticed an increase in employment, aside from the occasional contruction project?
Anon 1:46--"Obamanomics" is not researched backup--I appreciate your opinion in the debate but you have to back it up with something to be taken seriously. I know someone who works at a nonprofit downtown that has already seen the stimulus money come in and create a couple of jobs. The NSP funds are part of the stimulus and that's what's paying for the green rehab jobs on two houses in the West Ward as well, as announced a couple of weeks ago in the paper and on this blog. So we may not have seen very many new jobs yet, but to say, "those jobs haven't been created" is misleading. Now, you have a good point about budgeting vs. actually paying a worker--that's something to keep in mind, but at the nonprofit I mentioned, the jobs have been created and people are getting paid.
Anon 7:55--you have hit on one of my biggest pet peeves--emphasizing the unemployment rate rather than the jobless rate. the unemployment rate only measures the number of people applying for unemployment, not the number of people who don't have a job. and it certainly doesn't count all the people whose unemployment has run out when they still don't have a job. to use the unemployment rate as a leading indicator as to how average Americans, and how the economy at large, is doing, is utterly misleading.
First, I want to note that counting the number of people who are off unemployment and not working is not a simple task. It is not left out to mislead.
Second, I will note that not only have seen recent jobs created by the stimulus, I also noticed jobs and paid training beginning last Spring. Perhaps you noticed the yellow CareerForce signs posted around Easton and Allentown?
Here is a link to a document representing the number of youth involved in just one week of the summer youth employment program, CareerForce, across PA.
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/490313/syep_report_pdf
Please note the total stimulus funding for CareerForce from Feb 17-June 30,2009 was $40,647,780. Maybe not a lot overall, but this is just the funds they dedicated for a five month period for youth aged 14-24 in PA.
The Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) moved quickly in Feb. 2009 to urge programs to get in place, so more youth could gain employment and experience. Penn State Lehigh in addition to area businesses helped coordinate paid training and work experiences.
This is just one example. There are more things coming!
Also, let's not forget the teachers in who kept their jobs because the stimulus was used to make up for shortfalls in the PA education budget...I hope a teacher will write his/her account of this kind of impact.
The stimulus is making a difference, but the stimulus is just a shot in the arm. When this money is gone, the jobs it creates/created will also be gone...
AprilDiana--thanks for the link and the specific info--I did not know about the CareerForce project.
I would also like to hear from anyone who knows about stimulus money for small business entrepreneurs, because I would think that that would create jobs that would stay after the stimulus money is gone...
Does anyone know about this?
$40,647,780 for a summer youth program in PA? Not chump change. Kudos to Obama and spread the word to Easton's young workers.
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