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Updated figures on the federal stimulus program show that 6,748 jobs have been created or saved in Maryland, according to a report released Friday by the Recovery Act board in Washington.
Nationwide, a total of 640,329 stimulus jobs were created or saved over the first eight months of the $787 billion program. That represents only a portion of the employment produced by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, White House officials said, because it does not account for jobs generated by subcontractors and others further down the spending chain.
Administration officials said the data show that states with higher unemployment rates reported saving or creating 25 percent more jobs, on a per capita basis.
Maryland, with a 7.3 percent jobless rate well below the 9.8 percent national average, ranked 28th in jobs created, significantly lower than its ranking as the 19th most populous state. However, the state has benefited disproportionately from federal spending in the Washington area, a factor not fully reflected in the new stimulus jobs data.
At the White House on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden, flanked by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a fellow Democrat, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a California Republican, said the jobs report was evidence that the stimulus had helped pull the country out of the deepest downturn since the Depression.
"Those who criticize it, what would they have done?" Biden asked, adding that the administration wouldn't be satisfied until the country started creating more jobs than it is losing.
Biden singled out Maryland as he pointed to improving economic conditions around the country.
"Governor O'Malley has even a better story, what's happening in his state, in terms of employment," Biden said, throwing in praise for the governor's stimulus-reporting Web site.
When President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in February, O'Malley said it saved the state from having to lay off 700 workers and make deep cuts into schools' funding.
Over the two-year life of the Recovery Act, Maryland is set to receive more than $4 billion. The state government has used about 6 percent of that - $229 million - on awards to state agencies that created the jobs detailed in the latest report. When Medicaid payments and unemployment benefits are factored in, the state has spent almost one-fourth of its allotted stimulus money, O'Malley officials said.
State and federal officials are anticipating a bump in stimulus spending at the beginning of the year, as more projects get under way.
The O'Malley administration released a spreadsheet Friday of the data it sent to the federal government for the jobs report.
The spreadsheet detailed 411 awards to agencies such as the State Highway Administration, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Those awards created or saved about 4,460 jobs, O'Malley said, adding to more than 2,000 other jobs created by federal stimulus funds given directly to local governments and businesses.
The data show:
•The Recovery Act has helped public education the most - creating or saving about 1,700 teacher and administrative positions in primary and secondary schools across the state.
•State law enforcement agencies, including the State Police and the Division of Parole and Probation, were able to create or save about 880 jobs.
•The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation generated more than 700 summer jobs for young adults.
Much of the data was updated as recently as Thursday, according to the spreadsheet. An earlier round of data released by the federal government contained discrepancies that the officials said they have been working to correct.
Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey contributed to this article.
Nationwide, a total of 640,329 stimulus jobs were created or saved over the first eight months of the $787 billion program. That represents only a portion of the employment produced by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, White House officials said, because it does not account for jobs generated by subcontractors and others further down the spending chain.
Administration officials said the data show that states with higher unemployment rates reported saving or creating 25 percent more jobs, on a per capita basis.
Maryland, with a 7.3 percent jobless rate well below the 9.8 percent national average, ranked 28th in jobs created, significantly lower than its ranking as the 19th most populous state. However, the state has benefited disproportionately from federal spending in the Washington area, a factor not fully reflected in the new stimulus jobs data.
At the White House on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden, flanked by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a fellow Democrat, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a California Republican, said the jobs report was evidence that the stimulus had helped pull the country out of the deepest downturn since the Depression.
"Those who criticize it, what would they have done?" Biden asked, adding that the administration wouldn't be satisfied until the country started creating more jobs than it is losing.
Biden singled out Maryland as he pointed to improving economic conditions around the country.
"Governor O'Malley has even a better story, what's happening in his state, in terms of employment," Biden said, throwing in praise for the governor's stimulus-reporting Web site.
When President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in February, O'Malley said it saved the state from having to lay off 700 workers and make deep cuts into schools' funding.
Over the two-year life of the Recovery Act, Maryland is set to receive more than $4 billion. The state government has used about 6 percent of that - $229 million - on awards to state agencies that created the jobs detailed in the latest report. When Medicaid payments and unemployment benefits are factored in, the state has spent almost one-fourth of its allotted stimulus money, O'Malley officials said.
State and federal officials are anticipating a bump in stimulus spending at the beginning of the year, as more projects get under way.
The O'Malley administration released a spreadsheet Friday of the data it sent to the federal government for the jobs report.
The spreadsheet detailed 411 awards to agencies such as the State Highway Administration, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Those awards created or saved about 4,460 jobs, O'Malley said, adding to more than 2,000 other jobs created by federal stimulus funds given directly to local governments and businesses.
The data show:
•The Recovery Act has helped public education the most - creating or saving about 1,700 teacher and administrative positions in primary and secondary schools across the state.
•State law enforcement agencies, including the State Police and the Division of Parole and Probation, were able to create or save about 880 jobs.
•The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation generated more than 700 summer jobs for young adults.
Much of the data was updated as recently as Thursday, according to the spreadsheet. An earlier round of data released by the federal government contained discrepancies that the officials said they have been working to correct.
Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Linskey contributed to this article.
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An ignored Human Investment Tax Credit program is a rifle shot, rather than a shotgun, approach to unemployment, designed to create 3 to 6 million new jobs and encourage between 1 to 4 million men and women to become entrepreneurs.
The 2009 Report can be downloaded at http://www.aesopinstitute.org
The 1977 job tax credit program, which adopted a few of the incentives recommended in an earlier Report, generated almost a million private-sector jobs; twenty percent of all new jobs created that year. It resulted in more jobs in less time than any prior legislation.
An updated version will soon appear. This work reflects a post-Keynesian economic analysis. All the tax incentives in the Human Investment Tax Credit program are needed for maximum impact.
Congress and the Administration should fine-tune this potential legislation without delay.
A surprising second path to millions of new jobs is described in the article: 5 Steps to Revive the Auto Industry and the Economy - on the same website. It reflects little known, hard to believe, revolutionary breakthrough technology that opens paths to cars that need no fossil fuel or recharge.
Later, advanced versions can turn cars into power plants, wirelessly able to sell power to the local utility when parked.
MarkGoldes (11/01/2009, 1:48 AM )