CBO finds 3.7M jobs created by stimulus

A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the Recovery Act has increased the number of workers by between 1.2 million and 2.8 million. The CBO also projects that 3.7 million jobs could be attributed to the stimulus by the end of September.

The $787 billion measure included several tax cuts, including one for $400 ($800 per working couple) that showed up in workers' paychecks. It also created Build America Bonds, expanded unemployment insurance and funded several domestic spending programs.

Several of these provisions are now being expanded in legislation extending expiring measures that the House could vote on later Wednesday.

A rough estimate supplied by House Republicans shows the extender bill increases the cost of the stimulus by approximately $88 billion.

A Senate Democratic aide contends the extender bill does not increase the cost of the stimulus.

"According to Congress's nonpartisan scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office, this bill does not change the cost of the Recovery Act or any other legislation, and to say it does is purely political propaganda," the aide told The Hill.

The CBO told The Hill there was no calculation on how the extender bill will affect the cost of the stimulus.

Republicans say the extender bill boosts stimulus spending by increasing unemployment insurance by $47 billion; expanding the COBRA subsidy by $7.8 billion; increasing Medicaid payments to states by $24.1 billion; extending the welfare emergency fund by $2.5 billion; modifying Build America Bonds, which costs $4 billion; and by providing $1 billion for summer jobs.