Program produces, saves jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Businesses reported creating or saving more than 30,000 jobs in the first months of President Barack Obama’s stimulus program, according to initial data released Thursday by a government oversight board. Military construction led the way, and states in the South and Southwest saw the biggest boost.

The new job numbers — in line with expectations for such an early accounting — offer the first hard data on effects of the $787 billion stimulus program.

The figures are based on jobs linked to less than $16 billion in federal contracts and represent just a sliver of the total stimulus package. But they represent a milestone of sorts for an administration that promised uprecedented real-time data on whether the program was working.

Until now, the White House has relied on economic models to argue that the program created jobs and eased the recession. The numbers help shift the discussion from whether the program is creating jobs to whether it is creating enough to justify its enormous price tag.

The White House said the new numbers were validation that the administration was on track to hit Obama’s goal of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year.

“The early indications are quite positive,” said White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein.

The construction industry showed the strongest numbers in Thursday’s report, accounting for about a third of the jobs thanks to contracts to repair military bases.