White House Estimate Has 1M Jobs 'Saved Or Created' So Far By Stimulus
Good morning.
If you've been wondering how many jobs the White House thinks have been created or saved by this year's $787 billion stimulus program, keep an eye on Recovery.gov. The administration plans to release its latest numbers on just that subject today.
NPR's Scott Horsley and Politico's Mike Allen say that administration officials have sent reporters an e-mail to say that they anticipate reports from state and local governments, businesses and organizations "will credit the Recovery Act with directly creating or saving about 650,000 jobs." The e-mail says that number stems from about half of the stimulus spending so far, meaning the program has likely "created or saved at least 1 million jobs."
CNN is also already reporting the news will be that 650,000 jobs were saved or created by about $150 billion in the funding so far. That's the number The Wall Street Journal is citing as well.
We'll pass along more news as it comes in -- as well as the inevitable second-guessing and analysis from various quarters.
Update at 1:25 p.m. ET. The White House has now posted some of the details behind the job estimates.
It states that:
Today's release by the independent Recovery, Accountability, and Transparency Board shows that recipients of a subset of Recovery Act funds have reported creating or saving 640,329 jobs so far. Since this reporting is based on only a portion of the Act's funds -- about $160 billion, which represents less than half of the money put to work so far -- it represents a subset of the jobs created or saved. This number also leaves out indirect jobs: employment created as a result of ARRA funds money spent by direct recipients. ...
Since, as noted above, the recipient reporting represents less than half of the obligations plus tax cuts so far, we can get a rough sense of its comparability to the more comprehensive estimates above by doubling the recipient-reported job creation of 640,329, yielding a jobs number -- almost 1.3 million. ...
Given that more than half of Recovery Act funds have yet to be obligated, the fact that many funded projects have a lot more hiring to do, and the fact that these reports account for around 640,000 jobs through the end of September despite all the omissions just noted, we are solidly on track to meet our goal of 3.5 million jobs saved or created by the end of next year.
Update at 12:45 p.m. ET: At the White House a moment ago, Vice President Joe Biden just remarked that "I can say without fear of being contradicted by any responsible source that so far" the stimulus has saved or created more than 1 million jobs.
Here's audio of the vice president:
Update at 8:05 a.m. ET. More from CNN:
"We're solidly on track to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the time this program winds down," administration economist Jared Bernstein told CNN on Friday. "There's a lot more ammunition in that Recovery Act. The stimulus package is absolutely working, both in GDP terms and in terms of saving or creating jobs."
Among the other stories making headlines this morning, as we just reported it looks like there's a deal in place to end the political crisis in Honduras and return ousted president Manuel Zelaya to office.
Other news:
-- Morning Edition -- "Afghan Decision Will Come With A Price Tag". NPR's David Welna reports that the high financial cost of any surge in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is putting some Democrats in a tight spot:
-- The Washington Post -- "Dozens In Congress Under Ethics Inquiry": "House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July."
Related story by The Associated Press -- Ethics Committee Says No Inferences Should Be Drawn: "The House ethics committee announced Thursday it is investigating two California Democratic lawmakers (representatives Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson), but its embarrassed leaders then had to explain that other members -- named in a confidential memo that leaked out -- may have committed no wrongdoing."
Update at 8:25 a.m. ET: A statement from the committee.
-- The Associated Press -- "Search Is On For Mid-Air Collision Survivors In California": "The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy were searching early Friday for as many as nine people off the Southern California coast following a collision between a Coast Guard plane and a Marine Corps helicopter, officials said. The crash was reported at 7:10 p.m. Thursday, about 50 miles off the San Diego County coast and 15 miles east of San Clemente Island, Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Allyson Conroy said."
-- The New York Times -- "Iran Rejects Deal To Ship Out Uranium, Officials Report": " Iran told the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country, according to diplomats in Europe and American officials briefed on Iran's response."
-- The Associated Press -- "France's Jacques Chirac Ordered To Stand Trial": "Former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial in an alleged corruption scandal dating back to his tenure as Paris mayor, a judicial official said Friday. A magistrate has ordered Chirac to stand trial on charges of 'embezzlement' and 'breach of trust,' the official said."
Frank Browning reports on the story for NPR from Paris:
-- World Series -- Yankees Win Game 2 By 3-1 Score; Series Tied At 1-1; Resumes Saturday.
They'll play in Philadelphia on Saturday. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption
They'll play in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images