Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced Jan. 30 that nearly 14,000 jobs were either created or saved in the last three months of 2009, thanks to funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The figure represents the distribution of 4,722 full-time positions among a number of workers.
Matt Shapanka (LA '09), a research analyst at the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office, noted that this figure includes both new jobs created and jobs saved with ARRA funding. It also includes existing jobs that last year's stimulus bill funded.
He explained that jobs created refer to jobs that did not exist before they were funded by the stimulus and jobs saved refers to preexisting jobs that are now being funded by stimulus money.
The Recovery and Reinvestment Office estimates that the stimulus bill awarded Massachusetts state agencies $4.3 billion, $3.1 billion of which has been committed to direct benefits and job creation and $2.4 billion of which has been spent.
According to Shapanka, the state government allocates the stimulus money to various agencies.
"Two thirds of the money goes to the state government and it's distributed from there," he told the Daily.
Shapanka added that the stimulus money will continue to be spent in the coming year.
"Part of the 2010 budget is passed," he said. "The 2011 budget proposed by the governor also includes plans to continue spending."
Alethea Pieters (LA '02), Public Affairs and Communication manager at Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office, said that the majority of job creation will likely occur in the coming year since the bill is a 27-month program.
She added that most jobs retained by the state were in the field of education, although all employment sectors have seen growth.
Shapanka also listed public safety and construction of public works projects as other major categories where jobs have been created or retained by stimulus funds.
The recovery office's Web site corroborates this, reporting that job recovery efforts related to education have collected the most money from state agencies, followed by jobs in energy and the environment, housing, labor, public safety and transportation.
Even with the jobs created by stimulus spending, however, the Massachusetts Department of Labor's job report showed that the unemployment rate in December 2009 increased to 9.4 percent.
In addition, recent reports show that the Massachusetts economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the last three months of 2009.
Shapanka said that Patrick's administration will continue to focus on the issue of job creation in the coming months.
"The governor is ‘committed to creating jobs and putting people back to work,'" he said.
Patrick on Jan. 8 proposed a series of measures to improve job growth and stimulate small businesses, including a freeze on businesses' unemployment insurance rates and giving $25 million in loans to smaller businesses.
His announcement also included a plan to allocate $2,500 for each new job created by businesses that have a staff of less than 30. In order to receive the funding, the job must last for more than a year.
Patrick in October made a similar announcement about stimulus funds. The Boston Globe, however, conducted a review that found inaccuracies in job recovery reporting by agencies.
The recovery office said that the system for tracking job creation and retention numbers has since been improved.
According to Pieters, the office now counts the number of funded jobs through a system of secretariats reporting job recovery statistics back to the government. These secretariats oversee different employment sectors.
"We chose to decentralize reporting," she said.
Pieters said that the state was among the top spenders of stimulus money. "Massachusetts as a whole is proud to be ninth in the nation for percent of available funds spent," she said.
Corinne Segal contributed reporting to this article.
