October 31, 2009 12:45 AM UTC

How's That Stimulus Working Out?

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• by: Colorado Pols

From the AP, new “precision-enhanced” numbers:

About 650,000 jobs have been saved or created under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, the White House said Friday, saying the president’s goal of 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year is on track.

New job numbers from businesses, contractors, state and local governments, nonprofit groups and universities were scheduled to be released publicly later Friday. White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said the figures will show that, when adding in jobs linked to $288 billion in tax cuts, the stimulus plan has created or saved more than 1 million jobs…

But the job market has yet to show signs of recovery, putting pressure on the White House to show that the stimulus was worth its hefty price tag. The economy has shed millions of jobs since Obama signed the stimulus in February, giving Republicans ammunition to say the government is spending too much for too little effect.

The White House says the report bolsters its case that the economy would have been far worse without the stimulus-a package of government spending, tax cuts, state aide and social programs.

Friday’s data will have its limitations, since calculating “jobs saved” will always produce an inexact estimate and collecting data from so many sources is certain to produce errors. But the number released Friday represents the most accurate head count of stimulus jobs to date, one that is more precise than previous estimates based on White House economic formulas.

“I do not need to tell any one within the sound of my voice of that huge waste in government expenditures that is going on. Every one of you knows instance after instance of waste and folly in your own city and village. It appears day by day in the headlines of your papers. Think it over and multiply it by all the thousands of other towns and communities in the United States and get the appalling total.”

–Herbert Hoover, 1935