Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on federal agencies' and local governments' use of funds the Emergency Jobs Appropriations Act of 1983 provided, specifically: (1) when they spent the funds; (2) how many people they employed; (3) how many unemployed persons received jobs; (4) what efforts they made to provide employment to the unemployed; and (5) what benefits, other than employment, they provided.

GAO found that: (1) most programs and activities failed to spend their funds before June 1984, when economic recovery began; (2) public works programs spent their funds much more slowly than public service programs; (3) 34,000 people found jobs as a result of the act; (4) an estimated 131,000 people could have found jobs if agencies and local governments had spent all of the available funds during the first year; (5) only 35 percent of the unemployed found jobs as of September 1984; (6) in 7 of the 10 programs GAO surveyed, only 20 percent of the project officials made a moderate attempt to hire persons unemployed at least 15 of the 26 weeks before passage of the act, while only half made an attempt to provide employment to unemployed persons, regardless of how long they had been unemployed; (7) unemployed persons obtained a relatively small percentage of the created jobs; and (8) the funds also provided for the construction of public libraries and roads, humanitarian assistance, including food and health services for the indigent, and the rehabilitation of public buildings and facilities, such as schools and parks.