The federal stimulus package is aimed to create jobs across the United States, but an ASU study says Arizona will not get its fair share.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Arizona has lost 166,700 jobs throughout the state since December 2007 — about 4.5 percent of the national total job loss.
Economics Professor Lee McPheters said in his study, “Does the Stimulus Plan Hit the Target for Job Creation?” that 70,000 Arizona jobs will be created by stimulus money, which is about 2 percent of the total jobs created by the stimulus package.
McPheters said the stimulus bill would distribute the creation of jobs among states by looking at population and employment shares on a state-by-state basis.
In his study, McPheters said he found that several other Western states are reported to receive a larger share of stimulus jobs created compared to actual job losses.
According to McPheters, Colorado lost 38,500 jobs in the same time frame as Arizona and is receiving 59,000 jobs with the stimulus package.
The types of jobs expected to be created through the stimulus package include jobs in construction, energy alternatives, health care, education and a number of infrastructure categories aimed to “build a foundation for future growth,” McPheters said.
But McPheters said Arizona would like to see the creation of higher-quality jobs, in fields like science and research.
“[Higher quality jobs are] what every state would like to use as its foundation for growth,” McPheters said.
Anmar Alkhazraji, a global business freshman, said environmental jobs such as those dealing with solar power should be included in the stimulus package.
“Environmental jobs are long-term jobs that will not only help improve the environment — they also pay well and contribute money to the economy,” Alkhazraji said.
But not all jobs created by the stimulus package will be high quality. McPheters said that because not everyone who is unemployed is qualified for high quality jobs, the stimulus package will create jobs paying a range of high and low wages.
McPheters said some low wage jobs Arizona will receive include construction jobs. He added that there are also tax cuts in the stimulus plan that encourage low-wage retail jobs.
Because the stimulus package will leave Arizona short of jobs to help stimulate its economy, McPheters said the state must rely on another part of the stimulus money.
Competitive grants will be distributed to the states as well, which means that Arizona might have a chance “to get a bigger piece of the pie,” McPheters said.
Reach the reporter at griselda.nevarez@asu.edu.
