Federal stimulus brings 25,000 Utah jobs in first quarter

WASHINGTON — The White House's Council of Economic Advisers said on Friday that 25,000 Utah jobs were saved or created by the stimulus during the first three months of the year.

That meant the Recovery Act created or saved about 9.5 jobs per every 1,000 Utahns. That rate was the 22nd highest rate among the states — and was just slightly higher than the national rate of 9.4 stimulus related jobs for every 1,000 residents.

The District of Columbia had the highest stimulus-related job rate of 23.8 jobs per 1,000 residents, followed by Massachusetts, at 11.3.

On the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia had the lowest rate, at 7.7 stimulus related jobs per 1,000 residents, followed by Mississippi, at 7.9, and New Mexico, at 8.1.

"From tax cuts to construction projects, the Recovery Act is now firing on all cylinders when it comes to creating jobs and putting Americans back to work," Vice President Joe Biden said as the state-by-state figures were released.

"We're not only providing needed relief and spurring job creation now, but laying a new foundation for economic growth that will create jobs for a long time to come," he said.

Earlier in the week, the council estimated that 2.5 million jobs were created or saved nationally by the stimulus during the first quarter. It followed that on Friday by estimating state-by-state effects based on stimulus spending in each state, the states' share of overall national jobs and what types of industries are prominent in each state.

The White House said Utah received about $2.4 billion of the $200 billion spent in the first quarter in stimulus funds nationally — or about 1.2 percent of that spending.

It figures Utah had 25,000 of the 2.5 million stimulus-responsible jobs in the country in that quarter — or 1 percent of that total.

Since the stimulus law was enacted in February 2009, $525 billion in Recovery Act funds have been obligated to certain projects, and $370 billion has actually been paid.

The Recovery Act is a combination of tax relief, financial assistance and infrastructure projects designed to cushion the effects of the recession.

e-mail: lee@desnews.com