Stimulus jobs lag in Texas $10.7B in aid has created 19,572 positions so far, lowest total for big states

WASHINGTON - Texas is creating far fewer jobs so far with its stimulus funding than most other states, according to government figures released Friday.

Texas reported creating 19,572 jobs with $10.7 billion in stimulus funds - the lowest job total among big states, according to new reports from

State officials said the disparity may stem from Texas' relatively good economic health. While school districts elsewhere reported that stimulus funds saved thousands of teachers from layoffs, Texas used half of its $3.25 billion in education funds to pay for a teacher pay raise.

White House officials said the 640,329 jobs created or saved nationwide - half in education - were evidence the $787 billion stimulus package has helped the economy turn the corner. They said the stimulus is on target to save or create 3.5 million jobs by 2011.

Administration officials didn't explain regional disparities, other than to note that more jobs were created in states with higher unemployment. Texas' 8.2 percent unemployment rate remains well below the national average.

"The Recovery Act cannot possibly fully offset the impact of the deepest recession since the Great Depression," said Jared Bernstein, senior economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.

But "there is a lot more ammunition left in this stimulus act. ... There are 2.5 million more jobs to come as the act unfolds over the next year or so," Bernstein said.

Some state Democrats argued that Texas isn't creating as many jobs because Republican lawmakers opposed using stimulus funds to expand programs they'd have to fund in the future. Educators specifically blame state leaders.

"From Day One, all he's [Gov. Rick Perry] done is to talk about what's wrong with the stimulus money instead of making productive use of it," said state Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, chairman of a special House committee that monitors stimulus funds in Texas.

"So what you're seeing is that we have used the funds to make up the state deficit instead of creating new jobs," Dunnam said.

Perry opposed the stimulus and rejected some funds out of hand.

A Perry spokeswoman said that Texas "continues to be a leader in job creation" and that the stimulus, which boosted the deficit, would be a drain on job creation in the future.

"All indications show that state agencies are managing these funds as required by the Legislature," said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for the governor.

The Texas Education Agency reported saving or creating about 3,500 jobs with stimulus funds. A spokeswoman said that many districts didn't face budget gaps this year, so relatively few could claim that stimulus funds helped avert layoffs.

"I am sure we are going to spend every penny and save lots of jobs, but I don't think we had the immediate budget holes to fill like other states did," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a TEA spokeswoman.

Texas generally ranks near the bottom of states in federal funds, owing to its lack of federal facilities and funding formulas that give an advantage to smaller states.

Several other factors conspire to depress its federal funding, including a shortage of top-tier universities to compete for research dollars and a lower state commitment to social programs that qualify for federal matching funds.

But Republicans who opposed the stimulus seized on Friday's data as evidence that the stimulus has been a flop in Texas, which has shed 225,300 jobs since February.

"The overall stimulus has failed at its essential purpose, which was to keep unemployment below 8 percent," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "I just can't see by any measure this has been successful."

The data is the second report issued on the impact of the $787 billion stimulus package. An earlier report showed that Texas created 1,100 jobs with federal contracts funded by the stimulus.

In the latest round of reports, entities that benefited from stimulus-funded grants and loans - including businesses that won contracts funded by grants - had to report how much money they received and how many jobs they created.

Texas was awarded as much, or more, funding than every state except California. Smaller states that are getting less money than Texas, including Florida, Illinois and Michigan, reported creating more jobs.

California reported creating over 110,000 jobs with its $18.5 billion. Florida, another big state, reported creating 29,321 jobs with $6.8 billion.

Congressional Democrats cautioned against concluding that Texas is losing out. They noted that work began recently on many contracts, meaning more jobs may be reported in the near future.

"This data, though encouraging, is simply the first snapshot of the results of the Recovery Act," said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas.

"In the coming months, as the rest of the Recovery money is obligated and recipients continue to report how they are using the money, we will have a better picture of the overall impact of the Recovery Act," Johnson said.

Ed DeSeve, a senior adviser to the president for Recovery Act implementation, said states like Texas might show fewer jobs created because they are using stimulus funds later in the fiscal year.

"It's really an element of timing," DeSeve said.

Staff writer Christy Hoppe in Austin contributed to this report.

POINT-COUNTERPOINT

ON THE LATEST FIGURES

The White House says the $787 billion stimulus passed in February is directly responsible for saving or creating more than 640,000 jobs so far. Jared Bernstein, senior economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said the figures show that, when adding in jobs linked to $288 billion in tax cuts, the stimulus has created or saved more than 1 million jobs. Others say that the latest figures should be taken with a grain of salt. "It is really an amazing report because there's no way to actually prove that you're creating jobs when thousands upon thousands of jobs are being lost," said William Beach, a tax analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Republicans have pointed to the nation's 9.8 percent unemployment rate, setting it against the White House prediction last winter that the stimulus would keep unemployment at 8 percent. But the White House says that the stimulus-fueled recovery is a work in progress and predicts that millions more jobs will be created or saved by the end of next year. Bernstein said that without the Recovery Act, the nation's jobless rate would top out at around 12 percent instead of the 10 percent peak that the White House currently projects.

TARGETED ACCURATELY?

Critics have said for months that the stimulus is not going to the states where it is needed most. Bernstein pushed back, noting that the reports show job creation at rates of 25 percent higher in the five states with the highest unemployment last winter.

COST PER JOB

Republicans pointed to calculations that the reports, taken literally, would mean that each of the 640,000 jobs created would have cost $248,000. But Bernstein called that "worse than fuzzy" math, because it overlooked more indirect job creation.

VAGUE TERMINOLOGY

Some officials have zeroed in on the vagueness of the "jobs created or saved" terminology, noting the subjectivity in determining whether a given job truly would have been lost without the stimulus. For example, Chris Johnston, who oversees stimulus spending in Indiana for Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, said his state reported that 13,000 teaching jobs were created or saved. But he's not sure if those people actually would have been laid off. But Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the stimulus unquestionably has prevented tens of thousands of layoffs in his state.

FACT OR FANTASY?

Obama administration officials said they were confident their numbers are accurate. "What we have to do is rely on the fact that our public officials are honest," said Ed DeSeve, a White House adviser helping to oversee the stimulus. "There's no advantage to a state from overstating or understating." But Peter Morici, a University of Maryland economist and professor, said he was troubled that claims of jobs saved are not verifiable. "It certainly has had an effect. But 1 million jobs is a fantasy," he said.

From wire reports

Rankings for stimulus job creation

The federal government said Friday that the $787 billion stimulus created or saved 640,329 jobs since February. Texas ranked 10th among states for stimulus job creation, despite being awarded as much, or more, money than any state except California.

1. California

110,185

2. New York

40,620

3. Washington

34,517

4. Florida

29,321

5. North Carolina

28,073

6. Georgia

24,681

7. Illinois

24,448

8. New Jersey

24,109

9. Michigan

22,514

This chart shows the top 10 states in stimulus job creation. The funds available for each state are divided by the jobs created to show a dollar figure equal to each job. Because Texas has created fewer jobs with its stimulus funds thus far, the cost per job is higher than in many other states:

California $168,215

New York $260,931

Washington $157,185

Florida $231,205

North Carolina $152,405

Georgia $169,993

Illinois $262,817

New Jersey $160,144

Michigan $231,455

Texas Texas has over $10 billion in funds available, equal to $545,701 per job saved or created

SOURCE: Recovery.gov

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