SHARE:                                              

The first hard data reported by recipients of stimulus funding shows that over 30,000 jobs have been created since the $787 billion Recovery Act was enacted in February.

The reports submitted by direct recipients of federal stimulus funding represent only a small portion of Recovery Act spending to date, according to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (RATB), which released the data and monitors spending under the Recovery Act.

The data, which is posted on http://www.Recovery.gov, the government's website tracking stimulus spending, is based on funds received by some 9,000 prime contractors. The contractors were awarded a total of about $16 billion and have spent approximately $2 billion as of Oct. 1.

On October 30, more data will be posted showing jobs created and funds spent to date by the remainder of the 112,000 recipients of stimulus funding. The second wave of data will include reports from subcontractors and vendors who received grants and loans under the Recovery Act.