Updated Recovery Act Job Figures

By Robert Brodsky

It turns out the stimulus funded more jobs last quarter than originally expected.

Recipients of Recovery Act funds have spent the past several weeks updating their January 2010 spending reports. Final data for the quarter now shows that the bill funded 608,203 jobs from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2009, according to data on Recovery.gov . The original reports showed recipients had reported funding 599,108 jobs.

Recipients of stimulus contracts, grants and loans are required to report quarterly on the status of their stimulus-funded projects and the amount of money spent. Under a new policy, recipients are allowed to correct mistakes in their award reports for several weeks after the reports are filed. Nearly 15 percent of all reports filed for the quarter were subsequently amended, most often to correct jobs totals.

The next reporting cycle begins April 1, 2010.