Federal stimulus creating few new jobs in Florida so far

WASHINGTON - Six months after Congress approved billions to stimulate the economy, Florida's share is trickling into the state to build roads, shore up gaps in Medicaid and meet a host of local needs.

So far it has not created many jobs.

Employment services in South Florida say the economic-recovery dollars have had little impact on the job market, leaving many job-seekers disillusioned and sometimes desperate.

The initial results indicate that the vaunted stimulus bill will help many people survive hard times, largely by extending unemployment benefits. It may have stemmed layoffs, especially in schools and local governments.

The White House said Florida has paid out $2.89 billion of the $8.34 billion that has been made available under the recovery act. At least $11.19 billion is expected to come to the state in the next two years. More will come as the result of competitive grants.

"It has not done much to lower unemployment in Florida," said Chris McCarty, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of Florida's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "But it has probably gone a long way to support people who are unemployed and provide them with temporary assistance they need as the economy turns around."

The challenge in Florida, he said, is to find a way to replace the thousands of construction-related jobs that were lost when the state's vast growth ended with the real estate bust.

"It may be a really long time before those job losses are reversed," he said. "Many will never come back."

Federal stimulus creating few new jobs in Florida so far - Sun Sentinel - August 17, 2009