My Recruiting Blog

Thousands of Maryland and Baltimore jobs (Click here) have been created or saved because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Gov. Martin O'Malley recently announced that the federal stimulus plan has helped create or save 4,460 jobs throughout the state. The state has lost 25,800 jobs since the ARRA was passed in February.

However, Maryland has only spent 6 percent of the more than $4 billion the state expects to receive. While the state was first to use stimulus money for road projects, many grants for healthcare programs and home weatherization have been approved recently.

According to an article by The Baltimore Sun, $184 million in stimulus funding created 800 transportation jobs through 84 construction projects, education funding has saved or created 1,810 jobs for teachers, and $34 million in workforce grants was used to hire hundreds of students for part-time summer jobs.

State officials have reported that the stimulus has created an additional 1,450 indirect jobs and induced another 8,170 jobs. Those numbers, along with 965 private-sector jobs created or saved by the stimulus, are not included in the most recent figures.

Despite jobs created through the stimulus, Maryland has continued to see a decrease in employment and an increase in unemployment.

During September, the state saw its unemployment rate increase from 7.1 percent to 7.2 percent, following a decrease from 7.2 percent during August. However, the current rate is still lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.

Maryland had a total non-farm employment of 2,533,900 workers during September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 2,537,500 workers during August and a 2.2 percent decrease from last year.

During September, the Baltimore-Towson area saw its unemployment rate stay even at 7.6 percent. The area had a total non-farm employment of 1,276,700 workers that same month, which is down from 1,277,400 workers during August and a 2.8 percent decrease from last year.

Labels: Baltimore jobs