Continuing on the Recovery Summer and Stimulus: State by State, we head to Florida.
Quick Florida facts:
- In January of 2009, the unemployment rate in Florida was 8.6%. As of June 30, 2010, the unemployment rate was 11.4%–a net increase of 2.8%! (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- According to Recovery.gov, Florida has received 6,534 awards. This has resulted in $9,553,270,403 being spent to create/save 40,576.24* jobs (Source: Recovery.gov)
- The labor force in Florida has increased by 31,380 people. In January of 2009, the labor force was 9,206,310 people strong and increased to 9,237,690 people as of June 2010. And in that same course of time, unemployment has skyrocketed. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- According to the Recovery Summer Map, Florida boasts no “Summer of Recovery” projects!
- The number of people employed in Florida has shrunk by 225,072 people while the labor force has increased! (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- The Obama administration projected the change in jobs by December 31, 2010 to be +206,000 jobs. To date, Florida has lost 145,900 jobs. (Source: Ways & Means Republicans)
The employment trend in Florida has continued downward since Obama took office. As the “Summer of Recovery” began, Florida saw a slight recovery that began in March of 2010 come to a harsh end. As “Recovery Summer” wears on, Florida watches its economy continue to head down the drain with increasing unemployment.(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Has the Recovery Act done anything for Florida? No.
Has “Recovery Summer” done anything for Florida? No.
For a state that gave all of its electoral votes to Obama and is in the middle of one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in which the former Republican turned Independent Governor Charlie Crist is running (he closely embraced Obama’s “stimulus”), one would have expected much more. As the “Summer of Recovery” began in Florida, what little “recovery” Florida had seen disappeared as quickly as it began.
Read more on Recovery Summer and the Stimulus Effects on States.
*: The number of jobs created/saved conflicts with other government sources on Recovery.gov. This number was pulled from the latest figured offered on
