Governor Jay Nixon announced that $266 million in funds was being made available for wastewater and drinking water construction projects across the state. Of the total, $146 million comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, while the remaining funds come from the state.
The funds are part of the state's Work Now program, which is an initiative to help people in Missouri get back to work. Nixon has recommended 60 different projects in the state to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Too many Missourians are currently out of work. We want them back on the job as quickly as possible, and that's why we are pulsing these funds into communities with instructions to put them promptly to use," Nixon said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Missouri's unemployment rate for September was 9.5 percent. The national unemployment rate, which was recently reported for October, is up to 10.2 percent, and analysts expect it to remain more than 10 percent for 2010.
