Unemployment

Recognizes there is more work to be done to get our economy back on track

October 30, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Today, Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, announced that the Recovery Act is meeting its target of creating or saving one million jobs with just a quarter of the funding spent out and is on track to create and save at least 3.5 million jobs by next fall. In Connecticut, the reporting shows more than 7,000 jobs created or saved directly by funding in the Recovery Act, including more than 6,000 in the first district.    » read more »

11/03/09 -- Washington, DC -- Today Congressman Tim Bishop announced that Suffolk County was the top recipient of federal recovery funding outside of New York City in the latest round of stimulus funding reports by the state. Out of the $18 billion distributed statewide, Suffolk County received $1,110,135. The next highest county, Nassau, received $631 million.    » read more »

Recovery Putting People to Work on Investments with Long-Term Benefit

Nov. 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Federal Highway Administration crossed the $20 billion mark in approved obligations for highway, road and bridge projects this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. Of the $26.6 billion available for federal highway and bridge projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than 75 percent has now been obligated.

“Even though winter is right around the corner, highway and bridge projects are still getting underway, creating thousands of jobs and saving thousands more,” said Secretary LaHood. “The Recovery Act is helping repair America’s roads and bridges while putting people back to work.”    » read more »

Application for Part 1 of Pennsylvania’s State Stabilization Funds Approved Today

November 2, 2009 -- U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that $1.4 billion is now available for Pennsylvania under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. Pennsylvania will be eligible to apply for another $514,403,320 later this fall.

Today’s funding is being made available per Pennsylvania’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1.    » read more »

Nov. 3, 2009 -- The Rhode Island Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery & Reinvestment (OERR) today issued updated job figures created or retained by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The revised job figures shifted down to 1489.49, as compared to 1,703.45 previously reported. The shift is attributed to a comprehensive verification and validation review by the OERR and the various federal agencies that oversee each program.

The 1512 reporting process is part of the Recovery Act that requires data to be collected and provided to the federal government every three months beginning in October 2009. Data required to be reported includes:

* Money received and spent during specified reporting periods
* Award description    » read more »

Includes 11 funded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

11/3/2009 -- Raleigh -- North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue announced today that 18 contracts totaling $56.6 million have been awarded for highway and bridge projects across North Carolina, including 11 projects funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The contracts were awarded by the N.C. Department of Transportation to the lowest respective bidder, as required by state law. A list of the projects is attached.

“These recovery projects continue to help us to put North Carolinians to work and to deliver critical infrastructure improvements that will have a long-lasting economic impact on our state,” said. Gov. Perdue.    » read more »

Tells stories of Washington state families who desperately need the support to get back on their feet

November 3, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray delivered a speech on the floor of the Senate urging her colleagues to support the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. This bill would expand and extend the successful Homebuyer’s tax credit program that has allowed families to purchase homes and has helped stabilize the weakened housing market.    » read more »

"It’s About Real Lives, Not Politics"

November 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today stood on the Senate floor in favor of the unemployment insurance benefits extension and released the following statement:

“I rise today to say that it should come as a surprise to no one that we have a jobs crisis in America. To help fix it in the short-term we need to extend unemployment insurance benefits to help families who are suffering through the worst job market in many years – not obstruct and stonewall to score political points.”    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Roland W. Burris today announced that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the Department of Energy have been allocated to Illinois to fund industrial energy efficiency technologies.

The funds will be directed as follows:    » read more »

Bill Would Provide Extra Unemployment Assistance for Workers in States Like Ohio and Would Expand Homebuyer Tax Credit

November 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced his support for a bill that would provide for an extension of emergency benefits to unemployed workers and expand the homebuyer tax credit.

Brown is a cosponsor of the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which would extend unemployment insurance by 14 weeks (with an additional six weeks for workers in high unemployment states like Ohio) and expand the first-time homebuyer tax credit to include existing homeowners who have not moved for five years or more.    » read more »

October 31, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Barack Obama said that while times are still too difficult for too many American families, this week saw real evidence of progress in the economy. On Thursday, we learned that in the third quarter the GDP grew for the first time in over a year, and grew faster than it has in the previous two years.

And on Friday, reports from across the country made it clear that Recovery Act has now created or saved over one million jobs. The American people are still hurting, but these are signs that we are starting to move in the right direction.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Weekly Address
Saturday, October 31, 2009    » read more »

640,329 Direct Jobs Reported on Approximately Half of Spending To-Date

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today reported that recipients of Recovery Act funds have informed the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that they have created or saved 640,329 direct jobs in reports covering approximately $160 billion, which represents a little less than half of the funds put to work through September 30, 2009.    » read more »

Federal Funds Are Helping To Put Sacramento On The Path To Recovery

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-05) applauded the Obama Administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability, and the release of the jobs created so far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through September 30, 2009.    » read more »

30-Oct-2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) issued this statement following the release of the White House report showing that 650,000 jobs were created or saved in America through stimulus funds, including more than 14,000 in Maryland:

“The Recovery Act was always about jobs, jobs, jobs. When President Obama took office, he inherited a terrible mess: an economy on the brink of collapse, shedding an average of 700,000 jobs a month, frozen credit markets, banks refusing to lend to students and small businesses.    » read more »

Seasonally Adjusted Data

October 29, 2009 -- In the week ending Oct. 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 530,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 531,000. The 4-week moving average was 526,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 532,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.4 percent for the week ending Oct. 17, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.5 percent.    » read more »