The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is anticipated to create or save 66,000 jobs in Minnesota over the next two years, according to a state-by-state jobs impact report recently released by the White House.
 
The legislation—signed Tuesday by President Obama—is a nationwide effort to create jobs, jump-start growth, and transform the U.S. economy to compete in the 21st century.
 
The report indicates that the $789 billion bill will create or save 3.5 million jobs nationwide within the next two years—and that jobs will be created in industries ranging from clean energy to health care, with more than 90 percent in the private sector.
 
The addition of jobs to Minnesota could help compensate for the estimated 55,400 that were lost between December 2007 and December 2008 and those that have been cut since due to the recession.
 
Nineteen states are expected to see greater job growth than Minnesota, which tied Maryland for the number of jobs anticipated to be created or saved.
 
California’s 396,000 was the highest number, followed by Texas with 269,000 jobs, and New York with 215,000 jobs. Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming were at the bottom of the list with 8,000 jobs each.
 
The job estimates in the report were derived and analyzed by Christina Romer, chair of the council of economic advisers, and Jared Bernstein, chief economist for the vice president. Detailed estimates of each state’s working age population, employment, and industrial composition were also taken into account.