As part of the Recovery Act guidelines, contractors across the nation updated the government on the success of the projects associated with Recovery Act funding. The reports were made on the FederalReporting.gov website and all agencies that received more than $25,000 in funding were required to report on the total amount of money actually received, how much money has been spent, a detailed project description, and how many jobs the funding created or saved. After the figures were tabulated, it was determined that more than 30,000 jobs were created or saved through Recovery Act funding.

 

Colorado tops the list with nearly 4,700 jobs created and saved. The state’s unemployment rate is far below the national average, with the Recovery.gov website reporting a 7.34% unemployment rate in the state. The state of Washington came in a distant second with just under 3,000 jobs created/saved. While Washington’s unemployment rate of 9.19% is below the national average, it isn’t a reassuring figure.

 

Other states in the top ten, including the jobs saved, are California (2260), Florida (1634), Tennessee (1156), Texas (1099), Georgia (1046), Maryland (956), Kentucky (866), and Ohio (699).

 

A look at the other end of the spectrum reveals that Rhode Island, with its 12.78% unemployment rate, only realized six jobs saved through Recovery Act funding. Connecticut (20), New Hampshire (22), Vermont (28), and West Virginia (31) rounded out the bottom five.

 

You can view the entire list on the Recovery.gov website: Most Jobs Created by State.

 

The vast majority of Recovery Act funding has been through the issuance of grants with contracts and loans making up only a small portion of the data used to determine these figures.

 

While 30,000 jobs may not sound like much, it is important to note that only a small portion of the projects that received funding are completed with the majority of projects either less than 50% completed or not even started. As the projects continue to begin, the job figures will rise.