WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- Federal stimulus funds that helped young people find jobs last summer are dwindling, the U.S. Labor Department said.
About three-quarters of $1.2 billion in federal stimulus funds used to create jobs and training programs has been spent, the department said.
Stateline.org reported Thursday that the funding that helped put 320,000 teenagers to work last summer at a variety of jobs will be far more scarce this year than it was a year ago.
The lack of funds could mean a lack of jobs for many in an economy that has not seen a significant recovery in jobs from the recent recession or even in the past 10 years.
The economy has added 8 million jobs since 2000, the fewest of any decade since World War II, Stateline.org reported.
Ten years ago half of U.S. youths aged 14-21 held jobs during at least part of the year. That dropped to about one third last year, a figure that includes only 10 percent of black youth working during any part of the year.
Some states are trying to make up the difference.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick said he would put $4 million in state money to work with $2 million in stimulus funds left over. That is projected to create 7,000 summer jobs, far shy of the 12,000 the state, using only federal funds, could afford in 2009.
