Colorado Recovery Watch - May 2012

The most recent economic data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show mixed trends for the recovery. The month of May saw an increase in the state unemployment rate, which includes the self-employed and farm workers, as well as an increase in the state labor force. Interestingly, another survey reported data that excludes the self-employed and farm workers and showed a net increase in employment for the month of May. However, a robust jobs recovery has yet to solidify in Colorado or nationwide. Enrollment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, erased positive movement in February as enrollment increased by nearly 7,500 people in the month of March (the most recent data available).

Unemployment

In May, Colorado’s unemployment rate increased for the second consecutive month to 8.1 percent. (Figure 1) Although this 8.1 percent unemployment rate is still 0.3 percent lower than May of last year, it represents a 0.2 percent increase from April and a return to the October 2011 level. The national unemployment rate also saw a 0.1 percent increase to 8.2 percent during the month of May leaving the rate 0.8 percent lower than May 2011.

In the latest edition of Colorado Recovery Watch, Rice Fellow Andrew Ball examines a range of data showing where the state of Colorado stands on the road to economic recovery.

Colorado Recovery Watch is a monthly snapshot of economic data, with a special focus on jobs and public-assistance programs. Read it online, along with other analysis of jobs and economic security from the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, a project of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.

Recovery Act is a model for enhanced accountability

You might have missed it with the Thanksgiving holiday and all, but news emerged last week that the federal government is enforcing accountability provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by attempting to take back stimulus grants where the recipients haven't said what they're doing with the money.

It's a good example of a more transparent, accountable and efficient government. It's also got some lessons for Colorado lawmakers as they prepare for the 2011 session, as we pointed out in a paper released a couple of weeks back.

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Pueblo and Aurora events show how to benefit from the Recovery Act

Some of our friends at allied nonprofit organizations are putting on events in Aurora and Pueblo next month to tell people how they can find jobs, get unemployment insurance and qualify for tax breaks thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The first event is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at St. Therese Church, 1243 Kingston St. 

The second event is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St.

Anyone may attend. Dinner and child care will be provided. To ask questions or RSVP, call Maggie Gomez at 303-638-0925 or 800-522-0925.

The Recovery Act was passed in 2009 to help people and communities most hurt by the Great Recession. It's specifically designed to help people who've lost their jobs or need other financial assistance.

The community forum is sponsored by 9to5 National Association of Working Women, NAACP, the Colorado Progressive Coalition and FRESC: Good Jobs, Strong Communities.

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How to benefit from the Recovery Act

Some of our friends at allied nonprofit organizations are putting on an event in Colorado Springs next week to tell people how they can find jobs, get unemployment insurance and qualify for tax breaks thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The event is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado office, 315 E. Costilla St. Anyone may attend. Dinner and child care will be provided. To ask questions or RSVP, call Maggie Gomez or Rosemary Harris Lytle at 303-638-0925 or 800-522-0925.

The Recovery Act was passed in 2009 to help people and communities most hurt by the Great Recession. It's specifically designed to help people who've lost their jobs or need other financial assistance.

The community forum is sponsored by 9to5 National Association of Working Women, NAACP, the Colorado Progressive Coalition and FRESC: Good Jobs, Strong Communities.



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A compelling metaphor for the debate over the stimulus

Check out this video from the Economic Policy Institute, one of our national allies. It's a pretty concise way of looking at the debate over the Recovery Act.

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Colorado news roundup: Recovery Act funds weatherization program

Today's Colorado news roundup highlights a prudent investment: The Denver Post reports on a program that has military veterans weatherizing homes, paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Check it out, along with links to all the day's public-policy news.

How the Recovery Act is improving efficiency and boosting clean energy in Colorado

It really is hard to overstate the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Not only did the Recovery Act pull the nation back from a potential economic depression, in the broader sense it is "changing America," as Time magazine demonstrated in a report a while back.

Aside from all those tax cuts and credits, the help paying for improved child-care assistance and piles of other provisions, the Recovery Act is also boosting the nation's move toward energency efficiency and better clean energy infrastructure. For details, check this fascinating "Colorado Recovery Act Snapshot" from the U.S. Department of Energy. Just the top-line figures are pretty impressive:

• Funding for selected DOE projects: $585.62 million
• DOE Recovery Act projects in Colorado: 115
• Clean energy tax credits and grants: 62
• Total Recovery Act funding for DOE projects and clean energy tax programs (as of June 1): $768.20 million

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Gov. Ritter applauds Recovery Act job creation

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's office issued a news release today highlighting some of the Recovery Act projects that are making a difference for the state's people and economy. The text of the release is below. Also check our website for more analysis of the Recovery Act.

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A new White House report highlights seven projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that are creating thousands of jobs and improving the economic climate and quality of life in communities across Colorado.

“The Recovery Act is helping Colorado’s economy by investing in ambitious projects like the redevelopment of Denver Union Station and the expansion of Abound Solar in Longmont,” Gov. Ritter said. “These projects are creating and retaining thousands of jobs, shifting the economy in the right direction and providing long-term benefits to the people of Colorado.”

The White House report identifies Recovery Act-funded projects that are improving transportation infrastructure in Loveland, reducing energy use at the Federal Center in Lakewood and providing affordable housing for abused women and children in Larimer County. Colorado companies are winning contracts for this work, allowing them to retain and hire employees. Jalisco International in Commerce City has committed to using minority workers for 50 percent of its contract on the Crossroads Boulevard Interchange in Loveland. The report can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/100-Recovery-Act-Projects-Changing-America-Report.pdf.

At least $7.3 billion is expected to come to Colorado from the Recovery Act. A recent report by the Council of Economic Advisors estimates that the Recovery Act has created, saved and indirectly produced 50,000 jobs in Colorado. More information is available at www.colorado.gov/recovery.

Below are the projects identified in the White House report:

Recovery Act benefits aren't just theoretical for COFPI analyst

Alec Harris, a policy analyst on the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute team, has been elbow-deep lately in analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He sent an e-mail and photograph to the staff the other day showing some hands-on experience with the act's benefits:

"It's official …the Recovery Act has broken through all the barriers and into my personal life.

"I just got this from my dad. It’s from my trip to San Francisco a couple of weeks back, on a hike in near the Golden Gate Bridge. I had forgotten about the photo until now."

For all of the Fiscal Policy Institute's analysis of the Recovery Act, check the website.

A more effective way to reduce the federal budget deficit

A commentary in The Denver Post today provides some valuable perspective on the nation's budget deficit and the most effective way of achieving long-term fiscal stability. Headlined "Let tax breaks for the rich expire," the piece notes federal tax breaks for the rich in 2001 and 2003 will account for nearly half of the total deficit between 2009 and 2019.

The Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute collaborated with a number of people and organizations to submit the piece after a Post editorial on July 29 mistakenly blamed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for creating an "unsustainable debt load."

How extensions to unemployment insurance benefits helped the economy

Extended unemployment insurance benefits have played a key role in keeping Colorado families and the economy afloat in the midst of the Great Recession. That's the conclusions of a paper the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute issued near the end of last month. Check out the full paper, or if you have time only for the takeaway:

• From July 2008 to July 2010, Colorado received $1.5 billion from the federal government to pay for extensions of unemployment benefits.
• Combined, those extensions added 86 weeks of benefits to the standard 26 weeks.
• The extensions were entirely federally funded.
• The additional $1.5 billion in extended benefits for Coloradans translates to $1.6 billion worth of in-state commerce and 12,000 jobs.

And here's a graph showing the state and national unemployment rates during the past decade, along with markers showing the two most recent recessions and the beginning of unemployment insurance benefits extensions. Click the image for a larger view.