Stimulus jobs more plentiful in metro DC

Recessions are always tougher on major industrial states, such as Michigan, Illinois, California, and North Carolina. Washington DC and its adjoining suburbs, with its plethora of government jobs, are better situated to weather economic downturns.

I hate to sound like a tape loop here, but once again I have to repeat this fact. The Obama administration said the national unemployment rate would not exceed eight percent if their economic stimulus bill boondoggle was passed into law eight months ago.

It's now at 9.8 percent, but higher than that in the states I listed. Michigan's unemployment rate is the highest in the nation at 15.3 percent.

Which brings us to a story in today's Washington Post:

Businesses that received federal contracts from stimulus spending reported creating or saving about 30,000 jobs, according to figures released Thursday. The reports also suggest that the program has been particularly beneficial for the Washington region.

The contracts represent just a sliver of the spending under the $787 billion package. Also, much of the $16 billion allocated to the 9,000 businesses has not been spent.

But the reports mark the first time the government has attributed a number of actual jobs -- however incomplete -- to the stimulus program, as opposed to estimates. And the reports represent the first time the contracts, posted to Recovery.gov, were made public.

More...

But the reports suggest that the stimulus money is providing a particular boost for metropolitan Washington, even though the recession has less impact here than elsewhere. Virginia and Maryland are in the top dozen states for federal contracts awarded, and the District is ahead of big states such as Michigan, North Carolina and New Jersey.

More change that I cannot believe in.

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