NHDOT reports 417 stimulus jobs created through July

The $112 million of stimulus contracts for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation through July has thus far resulted in the equivalent of 417 jobs, according to the latest figures from the DOT.

That’s slightly more than half of the statewide figure of 796 released last week by the Governor’s Office. The governor’s figure was only through June, but encompassed entire Recovery Act spending, including 700 state worker jobs. The DOT contributed to the lion’s share (78) of private jobs in that report, though there is an apparent lag, because DOT figures show 234 full-time equivalent jobs through the end of June.

According to DOT’s most recent figures, those workers contributed 33,699 hours in July, which translates into a full-time equivalent of 183 workers working a 40-hour week during the month. That’s still slightly better than in June when there were 160 full-time equivalent workers hired, and a lot better than in April and May when there was a total of 74.

Most of the DOT work is related to early contracts. Only some $15 million of the $112 million was let out in July.

According to the figures, the total payroll for the first four months was $1.67 million. That translates to an average wage to date of $22.50 per hour. The hourly rate in July was $21.52, a decrease of $2 from the previous month. But that might mean that it reflects more physical laborers and less money going to engineers and supervisors.

The DOT accounts for nearly half of the stimulus spending, and is the most up to date in reporting the number of jobs created. Most of the other departments and localities have yet to report job creation totals, and won’t be required to do so until October. — BOB SANDERS/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW