Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Economic Recovery at Risk

Governors’ New Budgets Indicate Loss of Many Jobs if Federal Aid Expires

"Facing continued major budget problems and the end of most federal Recovery Act assistance halfway through their coming fiscal year, governors are proposing a new round of deep budget cuts that would increase unemployment and threaten the fragile economic recovery.

"Without further federal aid, the actions states will have to take to close their budget gaps could cost the economy 900,000 jobs. Congress is considering extending some assistance to states as part of forthcoming jobs legislation." Read more

More: State Budget and Tax Analyses

Recession and Recovery

Chad Stone on January Employment Report

"[The] jobs report shows that job losses have slowed to a trickle compared with what they were in the months just before President Obama and Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) last February. But it also highlights the huge jobs deficit that remains the legacy of the longest and most severe recession since the Great Depression. Temporary recovery measures that extend or expand on ARRA remain vital to putting the economy on a path that will close that jobs deficit."

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President’s Budget Requests $266B to Support Recovery

Some news outlets, focusing on the President’s budget request of $100 billion for a new “jobs initiative”, have reported that the budget proposes only $100 billion for temporary, economy-boosting measures. But, the budget also includes $166 billion in temporary extensions of some provisions of the Recovery Act, which are contributing to economic recovery but will soon expire.

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