First Recovery Act Reports

The first round of Recovery Act reports have been released, and they show Texas ranked 10th among states in the number of jobs created or saved so far, with about 19,600 jobs reported. The reports cover only grants, contracts, and loans awarded so far, so they do not include economic activity created by the tax breaks, entitlements, and unemployment insurance contained in the Recovery Act.
 
The data don't offer a lot of surprises about Texas in many respects. About 42 percent of the jobs created or saved so far are in education and transportation, which isn't surprising since TXDOT was very quick to get their projects off the ground this spring and the education funds were allocated in the state budget process for the current school year.
 
Potentially the most interesting set of jobs created so far are the 5,752 jobs reported by entities receiving US Department of Labor ARRA funds. These entities include local workforce boards around the state as well as other local employment projects and agencies, and may offer the most information about green jobs creation to date. For example, in Austin some of the funds have gone to American Youthworks and allowed them to to double the number of youth being served through their national model YouthBuild program.
 
A lot of work remains as Texas implements the Recovery Act, especially with regard to state and private-sector energy projects. For example, less than one percent of the State's $324 million allocation for the Weatherization Assistance Program has been transferred to contractors so they can begin work, meaning there are many more jobs yet to be created. With so much work left to be done, the state also has a chance to create its own plan for gathering information from Recovery Act recipients, a step that could fill some of the gaps in the federal guidelines and allow Texas to measure performance according to the its own priorities and needs. No such measures were enacted during the session, but state agencies, legislators, and the House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization can play a role in shaping how Texas moves forward.