by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama claimed today that 150,000 jobs will be created or saved by the end of next year with the road-building provisions of the $787-billion economic stimulus that he signed.
"We are seeing shovels hit the ground,'' Obama said in an appearance this morning at the Department of Transportation.
The number of jobs that will be created or saved by the highway construction program will exceed the number of jobs lost during the past three years by the Big-Three automakers, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, combined, Obama said.
The Obama administration maintains that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create or save 3.5 million jobs overall by the end of next year.
The president's pitch for the jobs that his plan promises comes as the Department of Labor prepares to release, on Friday, a new picture of joblessness in America. In January, the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, the highest level since 1993, up from 7.2 percent the month before.
Yet Obama is promising no immediate turnaround in the economy. The president today acknowledged the precipitous slide in Gross Domestic Product during the fourth quarter of 2008 - a 6.2-percent falloff in the economy - and allowed that the first quarter of 2009 holds little promise of better returns.
But the road-building money in the stimulus bill should l pay immediate dividends in forestalling worse joblessness in the months ahead, the White House maintains.
"Transportation projects that were once on hold are now starting up again as part of the largest new investment in America's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the interstate highway system," the president said today at the DOT, appearing alongside Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Some of the jobs are attributable to direct spending by the government on roads, bridges, schools, and other infrastructure, the White House says.
Part of that is the $28 billion dedicated for highway construction, with the money allocated to states offering "shovel-ready'' projects.
"It is also worth noting that jobs in highway construction tend to pay better than average,'' the White House said in a written statement.
"The typical, or median hourly wage for all jobs in the economy was $15.10 in 2007,'' the White House said, citing Bureau of Labor statistics. "But for workers in the highway industry, the typical hourly wage was $18.31, a premium of over $3 per hour over the economy-wide median wage. ''
The government's direct spending on construction of new roads and repair of older roads will provide for work for those who could have lost it due to spending cuts, the White House says -- about 95,000 of the estimated jobs.
The secondary impact comes from what workers will have to spend on groceries, clothing and other goods, the White House maintains - an impact that promises an estimated 55,000 jobs.
Comments
Be prepared for the onslaught from the rabid. Do not expect any to agree as they are invested in failure. Prepare for the end of the world speech which they mock Obama for.
ps...."Change" if anything is spelled wrong...you can obviously disregard it. please remit mistakes to PO Box ou812 anal- retentive NC.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 11:31 AM
Although Jim Cramer is correct that Wall Street demonstrated its rejection of this ideological approach yesterday, the worst thing Obama could do now is further drive up employment and delaying economic recovery through giving employees' unionization voting rights away to the unions with the Employee-Free Choice Act. Don't take away the individual protection that ensures respect for the collective wisdom of workers in making this decision - in the privacy of a voting booth.
Posted by: Watch Out for ARAW Deal, Folks | March 3, 2009 11:35 AM
That's all??? Just 150,000 jobs from a spend of $28 billion for roads. It will cost that much to fix all the potholes in Chicago.
As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem.
Posted by: regionnus rattus | March 3, 2009 11:52 AM
Yes ...let's not overlook the wisdom of the stock market. As the recession started (officially) December 2007...we all remember the lows noted on Wall Street just months before that...I believe the low was somewhere around 14,000. How can one argue with the keen insight of Wall Street?
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 12:19 PM
The Dow sinking to 5000?
"Yes We Can!"
Change you can believe in..... Change for the worse, that is.
Posted by: Change You Can Believe In | March 3, 2009 12:21 PM
These "shovel ready" jobs will not employ the 10,000,000 unemployed.
Long term jobs are needed to make workers feel secure enough to spend. Kind of hard to spend on extras when the mortgage, car and utility bills need to be paid.
401's going DOWN.
Too, too much being spent.
And there is STILL BILLIONS going to foreign countries....Gaza wants BILLIONS, Africa wants BILLIONS.
We, Americans, can't continue to spend our money on foreign countries when the people of this country are losing money.
Stop the conga dancing in the White House. We're furious.
Posted by: renia | March 3, 2009 12:24 PM
Change you can believe in wants his candidate "the fundamentals are strong" to have led the way. The Dow: Blame you can believe in.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 12:36 PM
No onslaught from me. This is a good and necessary project unlike some of the porky crap in the bill. As long as these projects are put out for competitive bid and examined for corruption, that is. Which brings up the point that this is no longer 2007 so why should we "pay a premium" when prices for everything are in a process of realignment. Government has a habit of paying too much for everything they are involved in.
If I spend a dollar I make sure I get a buck fifties worth back. If somebody has me do work for them I give them more than they
bargained for.
That's all I ask, pull out all the stops, ferchrissakes.
That's what this country needs.
Posted by: Rob | March 3, 2009 12:43 PM
Change you can believe in wants his candidate "the fundamentals are strong" to have led the way. The Dow: Blame you can believe in.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 12:36 PM
bill r... you are being very slippery on this one. Using the liberal template answer; "Your guy was worse!" won't work forever. What measurement are you holding Obama to? At what point do you say his policies are either good or bad... ?
Posted by: heartburn | March 3, 2009 2:44 PM
What measurement are you holding Obama to? At what point do you say his policies are either good or bad... ?
Posted by: heartburn | March 3, 2009 2:44 PM
I'd have to say it would be a good deal more than 45 days.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 3:17 PM
I'd have to say it would be a good deal more than 45 days.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 3:17 PM
Obviously!
Contrary to logic or reason, your posts have made it very clear that he is not yet accountable for anything to do with this economy so far- go figure..
The facts are that Obama has had significant input and impact on economic policy earlier than any other incoming prez... he was giving policy speeches on the economy in November...
He has taken political credit for the speed he passed, and the size of his economic package (sorry-I can't even say the word stimulus with that last phrase).
He promised clear direction from his treasury secretary- only to have the guy tell everyone " I will have to get back to you" - and apparently, he has been locked in a broom closet since then- I haven't seen him..have you?
How do you not hold him accountable now for at least some of this mess?
Guarantee- if the market were going North instead of South he surely would be given full credit- correct?
Posted by: heartburn | March 3, 2009 3:31 PM
heartburn....I will agree that Giethner was a blunder. But I hardly believe in the infinate wisdom of the market. 2 months before the official recession started, the market was at 14,000. Hardly insight. Also...what part of "it will get worse before it gets better" is misleading. I have no problem holding Obama accountable.......but I certainly know Rome was not built in a day.
Posted by: bill r. | March 3, 2009 4:29 PM
Bill,
.
The market is a leading indicator of a recession. The downturn of the market was an indication of where this economy is heading. Rightnow, you do not hear too many people to put money into the market, even though it is down over 50% from it high just over 16 months ago. This economy has been heading deeply south once it became apparent the democrats would be assuming power. Since there is no faith that the democrats will produce a solution to the credit crisis that will not result in a bid decrease in the amount of capitalism (think profit motive) in this country.
Posted by: Terry | March 3, 2009 8:09 PM
How many of the newly created jobs can most women do? How many of the construction jobs will go to illegal immigrants?
Posted by: Vivian | March 3, 2009 9:53 PM