In the past quarter, state agencies invested nearly $600 million in Recovery Act funds -- increasing the total amount of federally reported Recovery Act funds invested by 83 percent over the total at the end of the previous quarter.
"Overall, jobs funded by the Recovery Act are helping to stabilize our unemployment rate, which has been at or below the national rate for 83 months of the past 86 months," said Governor Rendell.
"More importantly, we are reversing a dangerous trend in our job count," the Governor said. "In the first quarter of 2009 - before the Recovery Act kicked in - Pennsylvania lost 82,300 jobs; by the end of the year, job losses were cut to 12,600 and, based on the first two months of this year, we expect that trend of fewer job losses to continue when the March jobs numbers come out later this week."
Recovery Act funds continue to increase Pennsylvania's investments in the new energy economy. In the past quarter, $22.8 million Recovery Act funds were invested in three large-scale wind energy projects that are estimated to put 387 people to work and leverage more than $200 million in private investments. The three projects include building 50 wind turbines.
Taxpayers are seeing other benefits from the Recovery Act, including infrastructure improvements.
In total, Pennsylvania is on track to receive more than $26 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Of that $26 billion, individual and business federal tax credits and benefits comprise about $11 billion. The $13.5 billion flowing through state government agencies will build highways and bridges, help workers, improve the environment, support communities, develop alternative energy, and house residents.