Stimulus has created or saved 650,000 jobs, report says

A new report by the Obama administration estimating that the $787 billion stimulus bill has either created or saved 650,000 jobs this year will come as good news to those in consumer debt counseling and are looking for work.

According to the White House report, the positive results were culled from statements submitted by "tens of thousands of state and local governments, private companies, colleges and universities and community organizations across the country" on how their stimulus funding had been spent through September 30.

Altogether, their findings showed that at least 650,000 jobs had been created or saved so far, and that many more were on the horizon.

"We’re solidly on track to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the time this program winds down," Jared Bernstein, an economist for the Obama administration told CNN. "There’s a lot more ammunition in that Recovery Act. The stimulus package is absolutely working, both in [gross domestic product] terms and in terms of saving or creating jobs."

However, a report from the Associated Press casts doubt on the White House findings, saying that it had overstated the amount of jobs saved by the stimulus by "thousands." The Republican National Committee also took issue with the White House report, questioning what the true definition of a "saved job" was, according to USA Today.