Rutgers University Faculty Convocation Address: Next Stop RU

On behalf of my faculty colleagues, welcome to Rutgers. You join Rutgers at an awesome time. Our move to the Big Ten will offer you lots of opportunities to build school pride, but our shift will also offer you more academic choices.

The goal of my remarks is to get each of you to make several commitments. No, not to take the ALS ice bucket challenge, but to commit to “advancing the common good”, the mission of United Way World Wide, the nation’s largest charity.

How can you “advance the common good?”

Simply put, commit your Rutgers experience to becoming a life-long learner, an independent thinker, and a responsible citizen.

Why a life-long learner? At my father’s retirement luncheon, his fellow computer scientists commented on how he was always learning, always reinventing himself, and always making himself relevant. As a result, he never faced unemployment during his over 40 year career. Today, he paints, plays golf and advises small businesses.

Why an independent thinker? If you ask questions, if you challenge yourself, if you make yourself feel uncomfortable, then you will fully take advantage of the amazing opportunities here.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That is how we learn best. That’s how we build character. Growing up, the father of the founder of Spanx would ask her what she failed at during the day. The question baffled her. However, over time, she learned that to become a successful entrepreneur, she needed to feel comfortable taking risk, feel comfortable in stressful situations, learn how to respond to setbacks, and learn how to accept criticism.

Why a responsible citizen? Rutgers will prepare you to solve the world’s problems because we are at the heart of the three major trends that continue to reshape our lives: globalization, technological change, and growing population diversity.

Because of our unique position, you will have opportunities to discuss and develop solutions for communities like Ferguson, Missouri, develop cures for the deadliest diseases, figure out how to get Congress to work, and in a variety of disciplines learn about the past, such that we don’t make the horrors of the past, our future. That is why we call Rutgers, a university. The universe is literally at your fingertips. Embrace it.

As I mentioned earlier, if you take full advantage of what Rutgers has to offer, at times “learning” will feel uncomfortable. Instead of your studies leading you to clarity, you may become profoundly confused, meaning you need to go to grad school.

Further, your generation has been raised in a faster-paced and more complicated world.

Because of that, I urge you to link opportunities for physical and spiritual growth with your intellectual opportunities. Linking them will create a three-legged stool on which you can sit comfortably, giving you balance in your life.

Finally, commit to complement your Instagram posts, U-tube and Vine viewing by reading at least one, short opinion piece called an Op-Ed per week in outlets such as the Targum, the New York Times, or the Star-Ledger.

In closing, on behalf of my over 5,000 colleagues, congratulations on choosing Rutgers as your next stop. Facebook’s Cheryl Sandburg urges young women to “lean in”. I ask all of you to “lean in” to your studies. Doing so will allow you to make the most of your RU experience and “advance the common good”.

Conference Announcment: Building Resilience for ALICE Households: Strengthening the Social and Economic Fabric of Society

On Thursday, September 12, 2013, I will be co-hosting with the United Way of Northern New Jersey a conference called "Building Resilience for ALICE Households: Strengthening the Social and Economic Fabric of Society".
EVENT SYNOPSIS
The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University invites you to join a community-wide discussion to consider the size, scope, and impact of financially unstable households, dubbed ALICE, and their key role in New Jersey’s economy.

ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), a study of the true face of financial hardship in New Jersey, is the result of a collaboration between United Way of Northern New Jersey and Dr. Stephanie Hoopes Halpin, director of the New Jersey DataBank at Rutgers University. ALICE represents men and women of all ages and races who get up each day to go to work, but are unsure if they’ll be able to put dinner on the table each night. They are our child care workers, mechanics, home health aides, store clerks, and office assistants — workers who make our economy
run. This project revealed that one in four (770,000) households in New Jersey walks this financial tightrope, unable to afford the state’s high cost of living, one emergency from falling into poverty.

Building Resilience for ALICE Households will envision fresh public, corporate, and economic policies to strengthen New Jersey’s future. New data will be presented showing the economic effects of Superstorm Sandy on these fragile households. The impact of Sandy will demonstrate ALICE’s inability to weather a crisis — a perilous situation not only for these families but also for the entire community.

Please join us in stimulating a fresh dialogue among community leaders about how, together, we can provide ALICE with more opportunities to succeed.
TIME AND LOCATION
10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (lunch will be provided)
John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
Roosevelt-Perkins Room (second floor)
30 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ

MODERATOR & KEYNOTE SPEAKER: CHRISTINE ROMANS
Christine Romans is the host of Your Money, CNN's Saturday and Sunday business program. In addition, Romans reports on the economy, politics, and international business for CNN’s morning shows. Her reporting is also regularly featured on CNN International. She is the author of two books: How to Speak Money (Wiley, 2011) and Smart is the New Rich (Wiley, 2010).

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Registration

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
ALICE project and data overview, including new findings related to Superstorm Sandy

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Panel discussion & solutions strategy session

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Keynote address: Christine Romans

2:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Summation & closing remarks

REGISTRATION
Space is limited and registration is required. Click here (https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=f67ndndab&oeidk=a07e7uq695jfef09acd)
to register today!

America's Great Divide

On July 22nd, I followed up my CNBC Street Signs (7/5/13) segment on the June Jobs Report

(http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000180895&play=1 ) with an appearance on Power Lunch with 

Peter Henry, Dean of the Stern Business School at NYU.

Our segment (http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000184816) discussed the "Great Divide" between Wall Street and Main Street.

Here are my extended thoughts on the issue.

Q. Will the "Great Divide" widen?

Unfortunately, there is a good chance that we could see a third surge in income inequality. We saw increases in income inequality during the 1980s and from 2001 to 2007. Why a new surge?

-We are in the midst of an anemic recovery, especially for youth, minorities and the less educated.
–Tepid growth in Gross Domestic Product. Not strong enough to create consistent job creation in excess of 150,000.
-We are over 30 months into the recovery. Almost 40% of the jobless are classified as long-term.
-Including those that are part-time, but want full-time work, raises the jobless rate to over 14%.
-Over the past 12 months, jobless rates have fallen, but largely due to labor force departure.
-A large portion of private sector jobs have been created in industries with below average earnings. 
-Women and minorities have borne the brunt of the over 600,000 job cuts in the public sector.

 Q. What role is policy playing in helping to generate a new surge in inequality?

We are making policy decisions that are slowing investments in what the UN calls "Human Priorities." These are the building blocks of life: education, training, community resources, and social safety nets. Specifically:

–State and local governments continue to cut back services and employment.
–Diminished Congressional political will to invest in job creation.
–Sequestration will place a drag on economic growth.
–$1.2 trillion across the board spending cuts over 10-year period
–$85 billion in auto cuts started March 1, 2013

–Our conscious decision to weaken the social safety net is adding more economic “systemic risk” to low to moderate income families. Job loss, natural disasters, and other economic shocks are having greater immediate, short and long-term impacts.

I have said this in early post and opinion pieces and I will say it again. As the sage auto tech said, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."

 

 
 

Co-Host on Ebru TV's Fresh Outlook: Rolling Jubilee, Obamacare, the Fiscal Cliff and European Austerity

Recently, Ebru TV gave me the opportunity to co-host their one-hour weekly politics and economics show. We discussed the Occupy Movement's Rolling Jubilee, Europe's Austerity, the U.S.'s Fiscal Cliff, and Obamacare. I hope to serve as co-host in the near future.

“Fresh Outlook,” Co-host, Ebru TV, (11/17/12),

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxttrvVM8QI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCf102a_DRk 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXfRAB_sYBA 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cNFC80IR1Q 

 

Meet ALICE, NJs 1.1 Million Vulnerable Households

I introduce viewers to NJ's 1.1 million households who are A.L.I.C.E (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed). I discuss the causes and consequences of having one-third of your state's residents vulnerable to economic shocks and natural disasters.

"A.L.I.C.E." (11/23/12),
http://ebrutoday.com/topics/finance/956-a-l-i-c-e.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3UGB2ig4YI.

Recent Thoughts on the Job Market and Fiscal Cliff

The 6 point drop in December's Consumer Confidence should cause Congress and the Administration to re-dedicate themselves to forging a short-term compromise.

Here are three pieces where I describe the impacts on Main Street if we don't get to "YES".

Would Fiscal Cliff Stall Job Growth? (12/27/12)
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2059100488001/would-fiscal-cliff-stall-job-growth/?playlist_id=937116503001.

“America’s Fiscal Cliff,” Ebru Today, (11/14/12),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bt81MTqZyI&feature=g-all-u.

“Hiring Rally Ahead?” Fox Business News, (11/8/2012), http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1956162854001/hiring-rally-ahead/.

What’s at Stake Tomorrow? An Economist’s Perspective

Tomorrow your vote will determine whether we continue a thirty-year trend toward an “à la carte society.”

What is an à la carte society? It is a society where goods are priced, ordered, and purchased separately. Participation in an à la carte society is based on having the income, and for some items the wealth to purchase what you want. Of course, as a Ph.D. carrying economist, I believe that people should be able to purchase the type and amount of goods that they need and want.

My concern is that the goods which encompass the building blocks of life, such as access to basic education, quality health, and child care and soon, elder care, and a safe neighborhood are increasingly being priced and provided separately in the market place.

The decoupling of health insurance from one’s place of employment is well documented. Increased residential segregation based on race, ethnicity and class has reduced access to quality schools and safe neighborhoods. Republicans are proposing to remove the guarantee of Medicare and replace it with a voucher, and privatize Social Security. During the first Presidential debate, Governor Romney said that he will reduce funding to PBS, a long-time leader in providing early childhood education and truly “balanced and thoughtful” news.

Many low-income families and an increasing number of middle-income families don’t have the income and wealth to privately purchase these basic needs.

When and how did the à la carte society emerge? It emerged in the 1980s when we allowed policy makers to roll back worker protection laws, deregulate the economy, and privatize public goods that historically had provided Americans with a basic set of protections.

These policy shifts coincided with two investment slowdowns (the 1980s and 2000-2007) in the building blocks of life or what the United Nations call human priorities: public investments in education and training, social safety nets, income maintenance programs, community centers and parks.

The problem with placing more human priority investments on the à la carte portion of the menu is that we will not be equipping people with the tools to compete. The two surges in income equality that resulted during these periods are well documented.

The “Great Recession”, the weak jobs recovery, our past choices to slow human priority investments, and the potential to trend further toward an à la carte society has sown the seeds for a new surge in income inequality.

Today, over 40 percent of unemployment spells remain long-term. Over 8 million Americans work part-time, but want full-time employment. Another 2 million have stopped searching but would take a job if one was offered.

If these seeds of inequality germinate, it will mean on November 6th, we chose to trend further toward an à la carte society. It will mean that we chose to structurally disconnect the underemployed and long-term unemployed from the economy. It will mean that in the future, we have to invest even more resources to reconnect them.

What’s an American to do? Vote. Why?

The policies being offered provide very different visions for America. Both will generate economic growth, but have very different approaches on how to create “broad-based prosperity.” The Republican’s vision wants more of the building blocks to economic security to be à la carte, while the Democrat’s vision wants them to be widely available.

We must stop kicking the can down the road on health and retirement security. By delaying reform, we are losing the flexibility that would allow changes that have smaller adjustment costs for current and future generations. Stalling will raise the likelihood that these guarantees become à la carte options.

President Obama needs a mandate to break Washington’s partisan budget logjam. In 2008, many thought that just electing Obama would bring change. Democrats forgot about the “blue dogs”. They forgot about the number of Democrats in competitive districts. Further, Senate Democrats did not have a filibuster proof majority. Continued stalemate will slow economic growth.

Finally, former Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill coined the phrase that “all politics is local.” Today, “all economics is local.” The “downstream” impacts of efforts to place more human priority investments on the à la carte portion of the menu will be greater as you move down the ballot from the presidential election to your local town council and school board elections.

Make sure that you and your friends are engaged at all levels of the ballot. Vote.

The August Jobs Report: Are we better off than 4 years ago? 1 year ago?

Here are links to my commentary on last Friday's jobs report. Is the
US economy better off than four years ago? Than 1 year ago?

New York Times - Conversation with Catherine Rampell
http://www.nytimes.com/video/playlist/business/1194811622255/index.html#100000001766564

EBRU TV - Conversation with Bryan Jenkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad2X14ppoaY&feature=plcp

Getting to "Yes", Living United, and helping the Long-Term Unemployed

Even though I don't post frequently (I only post when I have something significant to say), I have been active. Here are several links to three recent conversations that I have been apart:

A Newark Star-Ledger Op-Ed that I wrote the urgency for Congress to foster broad-based prosperity.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2012/08/the_urgency_for_congress_to_fo.html

A United Way Worldwide blog posting on why we must "Live United". http://www.unitedway.org/blog/

An amazing conversation on the challenges that the long-term unemployed face.
http://www.knpr.org/son/archive/detail2.cfm?SegmentID=9132&ProgramID=2566

The Neglected Costs of Republican Budget Cuts

Republican policymakers that seek to implement austerity programs to address the Nation’s fiscal problems rationalize the bitter medicine by asserting that failing to reduce the Nation’s debt will place an undue burden on future generations.


However, these policymakers fail to include the long-term costs associated with implementing austerity programs too early in the Nation’s recovery, and policies that remove oversight of the private sector and weaken workers' voice.

If these policies are pursued, future generations may not face a serious debt burden, but the following will happen:

• Long-term unemployment will remain elevated,
• Minority, youth, and older worker joblessness will remain elevated, and
• Part-time employment will remain elevated.

As a result, future generations will have to pay for the costs of:

• Elevated worker idleness and higher crime rates,
• Larger class sizes and fewer teacher resources,
• Elevated levels of clinical depression,
• Elevated levels of poverty and food insecurity, and
• Elevated numbers of families that can’t achieve a “living wage”.

When these and other costs are included, immediately cutting government spending and returning to the policies of the 1980s at a time when the recovery has stalled, becomes an unattractive and dangerous policy path.

Violating Conventional Wisdom: Cutting Education, Training and Financial Stability Programs is Wrong

The February Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report contained some very good news. Over 200,000 private sector jobs were added and over the last 12 months, 1.5 million private sector jobs were created.


But, we must temper our positive reaction. The 1.5 million translates into a monthly average of 127,000, still below the 150,000 that’s needed to increase high school graduate, youth, and minority employment.

The report showed the consequences of the sustained, but modest growth. The college graduate unemployment rate fell because they obtained jobs. The high school graduate jobless rate fell too, but due to labor force exit. Further, earnings barely kept pace with inflation.

With these bifurcated outcomes, now is not the time to cut funds for education and training programs. Now is not the time to cut funds for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Programs (VITA). VITA programs:

• Ensure financial stability. They maximize the use of tax code benefits and incentives, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.

• Help people create bank accounts and save a portion of their refund to pay for necessities.

• Provide an alternative to predatory tax preparers. Clients receive 100% of their tax refunds.

Yes, the federal budget needs trimming, but cutting education, training, and VITA programs violates a basic rule of thumb. You don’t cut funding that helps Americans achieve financial stability, especially so soon after the “Great Recession”, and when uncertainty remains that the economy can sustain itself without stimulus.

Economics Literacy for Adults, especially Young Adults

Emma Taylor of Acredited Online Colleges shared with me one of their recent blog postings: Money 101: 40 Financial Lectures to Prepare You for the Real World.


http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/money-101-40-financial-lectures-to-prepare-you-for-the-real-world/

The site pulls together a wealth of on-line lectures by scholars and practitioners on an array of topics such as financial happiness, negotiation, investment and philanthropy, and credit, loans and retirement.

Enjoy!!!

New Piece on Kids and Economics

The folks at Nightly Business Report invited me to give a second 60 second commentary. I spoke about kids and economics, highlighting the Rutgers' Econkids.rutgers.edu site. Here is the link to the Monday, February 7th show: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/info/video.htm.

Review of Last Week's Labor Market Commentary

Friends:

From my posts over the past year, you all now know that I spend 3-4 days prior to the first Friday of each month pouring over statistics in preparation for the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' unemployment rate and payroll employment growth.

The monthly report also contains information on the length and type of unemployment. For example, in December, 44% of the unemployed have been out of work for at least 27 weeks. We have almost 9 million Americans that are working part-time, but want a full-time job. Counting them as unemployed raises the jobless rate from 9.4% to 16.7%. Many call this the "real" unemployment rate.

My commentary on the labor market started with an early Wednesday morning interview on NPR's "The Takeaway". Ryan Wineland, a Block Buster Video manager and I reacted to a new study that found that 84% of those surveyed said they planned on switching jobs this year, up from 60% last year.
(http://www.thetakeaway.org/2011/jan/06/does-worker-dissatisfaction-signal-positive-job-growth-ahead/)

Thursday (Jan. 6th) was a first. I did a short commentary for the Nightly Business Report. The piece expressed my concerns about a new surge in income inequality in 2011 and beyond. The commentary presents a broad framework for us to consider. (http://www.pbs.org/nbr/info/video.html)

On Friday, I spent the morning and early afternoon at CNN. University of Maryland economist Peter Morici and I commented on the falling of the December unemployment rate form 9.8 to 9.4% for Your $$$$. (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1101/08/cnnitm.01.html)

I also served as a resource for Mary Snow's Situation Room piece "On the Front Lines of a Job Search." http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2011/01/07/tsr.snow.searching.for.a.job.cnn?iref=allsearch. She highlighted the job search experiences of not only the unemployed, but also the 9 million Americans that want to work full-time, but only have part-time hours.

My last bit of input was to help CNN staff writer Aaron Smith shine a greater light on the disparate impacts that the recession and now the weak jobs recovery are having across age, race and gender. http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/07/news/economy/unemployment_racial_gap/index.htm

If there is a common thread to my commentary, it is to remind us of the recovery's various contours of experience.

The Economy and Labor Market in 2011

Friends:

Here is a link to a story that NPR's Tamara Keith did for last Sunday's Weekend Addition.
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/26/132328098/experts-see-economy-turning-corner-in-new-year

I am cautiously optimistic about the economy's recovery. The new stimulus will help the recovery accelerate, but its impact may not be as large as predicted. We have several drags on the economy:

-State and local governments are doing "anti-stimulus". Due to balanced-budget requirements, they are raising taxes and/or cutting expenditures.
-Many home owners remain underwater or have lost a serious amount of equity in their homes. As a result, they will continue to be cautious about spending money. Further, many can't move to areas where job are available.
-Along with the 15 million Americans that are searching for a job, we have an unprecedented 9 million Americans who are working part-time, but want full-time work. Creating a large number of jobs without stoking inflationary fears will take time.

Let's end the year on a positive note. In 2010, the labor market turned the corner:

-Private sector job creation occurred in every month.
-Growth in temp employment, a precursor to full-time job creation occurred in every month except one.
-Increases in hours worked, also a precursor to full-time job creation occurred.
-Retail sales during the Holiday season are up from the previous year!

In 2011, with the second stimulus' help, the labor market will accelerate out of the turn.
Happy New Year!!!!
Bill

African Americans and the "Great Recession"

Friends:

Here is the link to an opinion piece that I just did for CNNMoney on the disproportionate impacts that the "Great Recession" had on African Americans:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/20/inam.money.great.recession/index.html


If you look at reader reactions, I clearly struck a nerve. I look forward to your comments and suggestions on follow up.

Bill

Kids and Economics

Friends:
You can see the segment that Christine Romans did on financial and economic literacy at:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2010/10/04/am.dnt.romans.sitnr.kids.cnn?iref=videosearch.

Enjoy!!!!
Bill

Economic and Financial Literacy Finally Get Their Due

This weekend (CNN's Your $$$$$) and on Monday (CNN's American Morning), Christine Romans will shine a light on economic and financial literacy. It is an answer to the following question.


Want to help stimulate the economy, spend time with your child, and reduce the chances that the financial crisis occurs in the future?

Until Christine's report and forthcoming book (Smart is the New Rich: If You Can't Afford It- Put it Down), a long-term strategy not receiving enough attention is strengthening the economic literacy of our youth. One way to prevent a financial crisis from happening again is to better educate today's youth on economic principles, such as consumption, saving, and investment. Almost all states have economic content standards that begin in Kindergarten, but as parents, we must play a bigger role.

Prior to the financial crisis, parents and teachers had few well-known resources for identifying children's books that teach kids about the importance of saving and the importance of not living beyond one's means. For several years a little known "free" resource has existed at http://econkids.rutgers.edu/.

The concept behind the youth-oriented and user-friendly website is simple. Rutgers economics Professor Yana Rodgers and Williamsburg, VA K-5 reading specialist Shelby Hawthorne have developed a "living" catalog of children's literature that teaches a wide range of economic concepts that are linked to state curriculum standards. The site provides quick lesson ideas that are based on current research in economics and education.

Based on objective research criteria, you can click on an economics concept and obtain a list of the site's "Top Five" choices for acclaimed children's books that use enjoyable stories to teach economics.

The site encourages return visits. It profiles a new book each month, reviews new children's books and identifies their economic content. I am a labor economist , so one of my favorites is "Click Clack Moo," a wonderful story about some cows who go on strike because they want blankets and a duck, who serves as the arbitrator.

For sure, using http://econkids.rutgers.edu will not solve the credit card problems that many young adults have gotten themselves into. Nor will it solve the sub-prime lending mess that played a big role in dragging the economy into the worst recession since WWII. However, the site provides some neat stocking stuffer ideas for the holidays that will help your children become savvier and smarter consumers.

In short, you will be investing in your child's future and the nation's return to prosperity. If these economic rationales are not clear, then maybe you, too, will benefit as you read to your child.
 
Enjoy the Site and enjoy the time with your child!!!!

July 2010 Jobs Report

Friends, today's Bureau of Labor Statistics July jobs report revealed that the private sector added 71,000 jobs. The good news is that this marks 7 consecutive months of job growth and the July increase may signal that the June lull or pause (+31,000) could be over. We will know next month.

Should we worry about the weakness of these numbers? On one hand no. This pattern happened after the 2001 and 1991-92 recessions. At the start of these recoveries, we got several strong months of job creation, followed by a lull, and then a return to stronger growth. Assuming we don't get bumped by breaking news, you can hear me talk in more detail about this issue on this weekend's Your $$$$ on CNN.

Further, because of the weak job creation and declining prices (yes, declining), many fear we are headed to a period of deflation. For what this means and should we be concerned, listen to my interview on NPR's The Takeaway:
http://www.thetakeaway.org/2010/aug/06/start-conversation-your-personal-jobs-report/#commentlist

On the other hand, yes. These job creation numbers are not strong enough to reduce unemployment and part-time employment. The impact of the $787 billion stimulus has started to wane and the economy clearly needs help standing on its own two feet.

Several months ago, I participated in a small discussion with the Speaker of the House and her committee chairs. We talked about ways to create jobs. I offered the idea of a tax credit and/or wage subsidy to nonprofits like the United Way who hire unemployed and/or part-time workers. These Americans would work for 3 to 6 months on specific projects (e.g., resource development), helping to rebuild their lost capacity.

Do you have any ideas on how to provide incentives to create jobs? If so, please share them with me and if promising I will pass them on to the Speaker and friends in the White House. Yes, I will give you credit. I look forward to hearing from you.

New Study: Is the stimulus landing in the Neediest Communities?

Happy New Year!!!

Here is a quick alert to a new study on the stimulus' job impacts.

The study shows that the contracts, loans, and grants in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) have reduced or reversed job losses in key states. During October and November 2009, employment levels were higher than expected in 33 states.
Overall, the stimulus money is landing in states with the weakest labor markets. Unfortunately, the stimulus in 16 high-unemployment states -- such as Michigan, Florida, Rhode Island, Oregon, and North Carolina -- may still be in the pipeline or too small."

Even with the national loss of 84,000 jobs during December (November was revised for an increase of 4,000), since October the stimulus has added an additional 2.0 million jobs. Almost 1.8m were in the private sector.

Here are the major industry breakouts: Construction (+190,000), Durable Manufacturing (+408,000), Professional Business Services (+794,000), Trade (+62,000), Transportation (+79,000), Utilities (+6,000) Information (+75,000), Financial Activities (+164,000), Education and Health Services (+47,000), Leisure and Hospitality (-131,000) and Other Services (-42,000). These patterns are consistent with the type of projects that have been funded.

Want to read more? Go to www.heldrich.rutgers.edu for the full report and state estimates.