First Hard Data on Stimulus Released

Source: CBS News/AP

More than 30,000 Jobs Were Created or Saved at Businesses that Received Federal Contracts, White House Reports

(CBS/AP) Businesses that received federal contracts under the economic stimulus are reporting more than 30,000 jobs saved or created in the first months of the program.

Numbers released by a government watchdog Thursday offer the first hard data on the effect of the stimulus. These numbers only reflect jobs linked to federal contracts, such as construction at military bases or within national parks. That's a tiny fraction of the $787 billion stimulus, and does not include jobs created or saved by stimulus grants and loans. Broader data on local spending won't be available until late this month.

"It is too soon to draw any global conclusions from this partial and preliminary data, as it reports on just $16 billion of the $339 billion in Recovery Act efforts before September 30th, but the early indications are quite positive," Chief White House Economist Jared Bernstein said in a statement.

The job tally is part of the largest-ever attempt to measure the success of a government program in real time.

The report card reflects agency data but not recipient data, which will not be reported until October 30th. CBS News producer Laura Stricker reports that recipients are now frantically working to file information with the government about what money they received and what they are doing with it.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/15/politics/main5385831.shtml?tag=stack

That's two days' New Jobless Claims.

The Repukes & Blue Dogs watered the stimulus down to uselessness.

bigger picture to come by the end of the month...

That is less than 5%