- In its first 13 months, the ARRA funded 1,924,023 new jobs.usa rise image by FFprod66 from Fotolia.com
President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in February 2009. The act provides for unemployment benefits, tax cuts, human services, mortgage foreclosure programs, the bolstering of state and local governments, weatherization funding and job-creating infrastructure projects. Some of the programs provide direct relief to the unemployed; others serve all who qualify, including the unemployed; and still others create new jobs or save existing jobs. - State unemployment benefits last for only 26 weeks. The ARRA pays for all unemployment benefits beyond the state limit, up to a maximum of 99 weeks. During ARRA's first year, each person collecting unemployment benefits also received an additional $25 per week. Without the federal extension, more than 5.5 million unemployed Americans would have been without unemployment checks for most of 2009 and 2010.
- ARRA exempted the first $2,400 of unemployment compensation benefits from federal income taxes for the 2009 tax year. Stimulus funds paid for that lost tax revenue. Without that benefit, every taxpayer who received unemployment compensation would have had to pay about $300 more in income taxes.
- State and local governments receive recovery funds to pay for infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, sewer lines and public buildings. Those projects create jobs for unemployed construction workers, and those workers spend their paychecks at local businesses, thereby saving or creating jobs for those employees.
- The Making Home Affordable program offers help to all, including the unemployed. The program helps strapped homeowners find alternatives to foreclosure, to modify their payments or to refinance their mortgages so that they and their families can remain in their homes.
- Public and private social-service agencies received grants to provide services to all who qualify, including the unemployed. Those services include food stamps, school meals and other food assistance programs, as well as Medicaid funding and job-retraining programs.
- State and local governments use recovery funds to reinforce their own budgets, thus avoiding cutting programs and laying off their own employees.
- The government's official Recovery.gov website allows the unemployed to file claims and gather information through its links to all state unemployment compensation programs.
The site contains a comprehensive list of grantees, so that users might be able to locate jobs by perusing the lists.
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