Recovery Act Funding for Dislocated Workers

Mounting job losses in the United States have placed an increased demand on the workforce system. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5) added $1.25 billion to supplement appropriations for employment and training activities for dislocated workers authorized under Title IB of the Workforce Investment Act (P.L 105-220). This money, administered by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, is divided among the states using a formula that considers each state’s share of the nation’s unemployment rate, the relative number of unemployed over 4.5 percent, and the proportion of those unemployed for 15 weeks or more.