WH claims "Stimulus" created up to 3.6 million jobs

The Stimulus created 3.6 million jobs? From when the Stimulus was adopted in February 2009 until May 2011, the economy lost 1.8 million jobs. From the beginning of the "recovery" in June 2009 until May 2011, the economy has gained just 550,000 jobs. 495,000 of those 550,000 jobs are "temporary help service" jobs. This administration claims seems like a pretty hard sell to me. As to the trajectory change argument, I have written pieces on how economic forecasters where more optimistic about the economy's prospects in early 2009 than they were afterwards or how things turned out. More on the claim here.

The article here in the Hill incorrectly lists the cost of the Stimulus at $787 billion, while the latest number is actually at $830 billion.

The report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers said the stimulus added 2.3 to 3.2 percent to gross domestic product in the first quarter relative to what it otherwise would have been.

The stimulus package also increased employment relative to what it otherwise would have been by between 2.4 and 3.6 million jobs, the report said. . . .

The report credits the stimulus with positively changing "the trajectory of the economy" starting in the third quarter of 2009 and continuing through the first quarter of 2011.

The latest unemployment insurance filings continued virtually unchanged at 428,000 for the week.