Government

The White House Reports Gains: ARRA Jobs, Outlays

The White House’s latest quarterly American Recovery and Reinvestment Act update, released on July 14, estimates the legislation created or preserved between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs as of June 30. Those figures are up from an estimated 2.2 million to 2.8 million ARRA jobs as of March 31.

The report says stimulus-act transportation infrastructure jobs rose 17% in the quarter, to 102,000. Building construction jobs climbed 32%, to 80,200. Still, the construction industry’s June jobless rate was 20.1%, remaining the worst among industry sectors.

The report also says ARRA outlays for infrastructure and other “public investment” totaled $86.3 billion as of June 30, up 46% from the March 31 level.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

Post a comment to this article

Live: July 16, 2026 at 2:00 pm EDT We'll address the current state of the construction market as we reach the halfway point of 2026. ENR invites three top forecasters asking them to share their views on the market prospects for the industry at midyear, both nationally & regionally, in the midst of these unique challenges.