US Secretary of Labor visits green jobs training site in Phoenix during 1-year anniversary of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today visited the Labor's Community Service Agency (LCSA) in Phoenix, Ariz. YouthBuild students at LCSA are working to retrofit a building using green construction skills acquired in a training program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), which is one-year old today.

YouthBuild is a nationwide program of the U.S. Department of Labor. The program's students acquired their green construction skills through a curriculum developed with funding from the Labor Department's Green Capacity Building Grants. The grants were awarded in November 2009 and funded under the Recovery Act.

"I am proud that these Recovery Act investments are helping young people in Phoenix learn valuable skills, which will help them obtain good jobs and shape a better future for their communities and our nation," said Secretary Solis. "We are providing essential training and experience to tomorrow's workforce, and – while we won't be satisfied until we see net job growth – job losses are now a fraction of what they were just a year ago."

In Arizona during 2009, because of the Recovery Act, an estimated 43,000 jobs were created or saved, and more than 320,000 state residents received expanded unemployment benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor has several key roles in the Recovery Act effort:

• To provide training opportunities for workers.
• To ease the economic burden on workers and employers by providing extended and expanded unemployment benefits.
• To assist and educate workers and employers regarding expanded access to continued health benefits.

The administration has pledged to bring the Recovery Act's funds into the nation's economy promptly. The Department of Labor is leading the way. To date, this department has paid out the largest amount of Recovery money (approximately $53 billion) of any federal agency. Over the past year, more than 90,000 jobs have been created nationwide through Labor Department-supported Recovery Act programs, as reported by contractors and grant recipients.

To find out more about specific Recovery Act programs that have been funded by the Labor Department, visit: http://www.dol.gov/recovery.