Calif. stimulus saved or created 100,000 jobs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - More than 100,000 jobs have been saved or created in California from the $5.3 billion in federal stimulus money state agencies have spent so far, according to a preliminary report released Saturday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration.

The report from the California Recovery Task Force was based on nearly 6,000 reports it submitted to the federal government on behalf of state agencies and their grantees detailing their job creation through Sept. 30. The reports were due by midnight Saturday.

They indicate that more than 62,000 of the jobs saved or created to date have been in education programs, including 34,000 jobs in the University of California and California State University systems and 28,000 jobs that fall under Department of Education programs such as public school teachers and special education workers. Together they reported spending more than $5 billion.

Federal officials want to track the number of jobs created through the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The White House has projected the stimulus plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, 90 percent of them in the private sector. Of that, 396,000 are expected to be created or saved in California.

California has so far been awarded more than $30 billion of an expected $85 billion from the stimulus fund, though not all of that money is available yet, said Camille Anderson, a spokeswoman for the governor. About $30 billion of the money coming to California is expected to come as tax relief, with the rest largely benefiting health and human services, education, transportation and energy programs in the state.

Among the other agency reports were:

• The California Employment Development Department, which administers unemployment insurance and job training programs, reported spending $98 million and creating 22,517 jobs.

• The state Department of Transportation reported saving or creating 913 jobs and spending $27 million.

• California's Volunteer agency reported saving 568 jobs, mostly in the federal AmeriCorps program, by spending $47,000.

Schwarzenegger said in a statement that he was encouraged by the job creation numbers.

Saturday's figures do not include tax breaks, unemployment benefits and other funding that is going directly to local governments or nonprofits, and the task force cautioned that the jobs figure could change as agencies review their data.

Federal funding has also been credited with reducing the size of the state's deficit, particularly through increased reimbursements in California's Medicaid program and school funding.