Patrick: Close to 5,000 new jobs from stimulus

BOSTON (FOX25, myfoxboston) - Gov. Deval Patrick has announced that the federal stimulus package added close to 5,000 jobs in Massachusetts during the last three months of 2009.

In a statement Saturday, Patrick said the new figure means that nearly 14,000 jobs in the state have been created since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was enacted in February. Massachusetts state agencies received around $4.3 billion in federal stimulus awards.

The governor's announcement comes as the state's unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in December after dropping for two consecutive months.

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported earlier this month that the unemployment rate was up from a revised rate of 8.7 percent in November, but still remains below the national average of 10 percent.