Stimulus provides 4,500 jobs for Maryland

Liam Farrell

Oct. 30, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Maryland has saved or created almost 4,500 jobs directly from the massive federal stimulus program, according to data to be released today.

The federal report is a first attempt to quantify the employment that has resulted from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, from its passage in February through Sept. 30.

State officials previewed the numbers during a briefing in Annapolis yesterday.

"This stuff is helping us (economically) and it is working," said Michael Enright, a senior adviser to Gov. Martin O'Malley.

A total of 4,464 jobs were directly created or saved by stimulus dollars, according to the state. Education, transportation and the government work force were the sectors that benefited the most.

Using economic models, O'Malley's administration also has estimated the number of indirect and induced jobs affected.

For example, a construction job would indirectly benefit an employee who delivers construction supplies, and both of those workers would induce the creation of more positions in the economy through increased consumer activity.

The state estimates that the stimulus created or saved 1,451 jobs through indirect spending and 8,167 through induced spending.

The White House says new job numbers will show the president's economic stimulus plan has directly created or saved about 650,000 jobs nationwide. Adding in jobs linked to $288 billion in tax cuts brings the number of jobs created or saved by the stimulus plan to more than 1 million, said White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein.

The White House and congressional leaders praised the stimulus yesterday as a new U.S. Commerce Department report showed 3.5 percent growth in the gross domestic product during the third quarter.

Christina Romer, the White House's chief economist, said in a statement that the stimulus likely increased the GDP by between 3 percent and 4 percent, and that, without those funds, "GDP would have risen little, if at all, this past quarter."

Recent employment data also have shown, if not an increase in employment, at least a slowdown in the number of jobs being lost. Anne Arundel County's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent last month, comparable to August, and the statewide rate inched up from 7.1 percent to 7.2 percent in September.

Bob Burdon, the president and chief executive officer of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce, said the stimulus has supported public works projects and provided opportunities for the trade sectors.

Overall, however, Burdon believes the cost of credit will have to fall and consumer spending will have to rise before the economy truly becomes healthy again.

"In the end, this economy is going to have to rebound in the private sector," he said. "These little things help from a consumer standpoint, but they still need to be confident their jobs are secure."

Administration officials cautioned that the numbers reflect only a fraction of the stimulus spending that will eventually take place in Maryland. The state will receive almost $4.2 billion through 2011, but only about $229 million has been spent so far.

Enright anticipated that economic growth will pick up in the early part of 2010.

"We have yet to see the real wave of recovery act dollars," he said. "There is a lot of work yet to come on this stuff."

The state numbers come as an Associated Press review found an early progress report on President Barack Obama's recovery plan overstated by thousands the number of jobs created or saved nationally by the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.

Both Enright and Beth Blauer, director of the StateStat program, acknowledged there have been some logistical problems with the stimulus program, such as transcription errors and regulation changes by the federal government.

Audits and inspections have been done on job sites, but Enright acknowledged that the tally will have flaws. Another report is due in January.

"This is not going to be perfect. ... Mistakes are going to be made," he said. "We are changing the tires on a moving car right now."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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