Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- There is growing doubt about job numbers the federal government provided with the road stimulus.
The Federal Highway Administration had projected the $198 million Utah received from the stimulus would create between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs.
At a meeting Wednesday, Transportation Commissioner Kent Millington publicly dissented, calling 6,000 jobs a "phony number" and a "dangerous assumption." He said many of the jobs were merely preserved, not created. He also pointed out many workers are a part of multiple contract jobs, adding to the inflated total.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports UDOT Executive Director John Njord agreed with Millington, acknowledging the feds' formula may overstate the effects of the stimulus. He said, though, there is no question the stimulus is preserving jobs.
