1,100 State of Texas Jobs Created by ARRA

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is responsible for creating or saving more than 1,000 State of Texas jobs.

Officials recently reported that companies and local governments throughout Texas have saved or created about 1,100 jobs through federal stimulus funding. Those jobs stem from 236 contracts throughout the state, which have been valued at $534 million.

Many of that funding was used to save the jobs of construction workers who otherwise would have been fired. Many other projects have yet to begin, including work on the two largest contracts in Texas, $102.5 million for a federal courthouse in Austin and $61 million for levee repairs in the Houston Ship Channel.

According to an article by The Dallas Morning News, Bell County, where Fort Hood is located, accounted for the largest number of jobs, with contractors creating or saving about 254 positions. Several more jobs are expected in this area next year when construction begins on a $621 million military hospital. Contracts in North Texas accounted for about 79 jobs.

The largest number of contracts in Texas have been awarded by the Air Force and the Army, which were awarded funding for renovations. Some of that work has gone to Dallas-based Leetex Construction, which has taken credit for creating about 120 jobs.

Many critics are claiming the federal stimulus is not doing its part to create the number of jobs needed to help the nation's faltering economy. The economy in Texas is no different, as the state has continued to lose jobs while its unemployment rate rises.

During September, the state saw its unemployment rate increase from 8 percent to 8.2 percent, which is lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.

Texas had a total non-farm employment of 10,297,600 workers during September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 10,342,300 workers during August and a 2.9 percent decrease from last year.