President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic recovery plan has created or saved roughly 1 million jobs since it was enacted in February, an administration economic official said.

Jared Bernstein, chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, cited private estimates and a preliminary government report that showed more than 30,380 jobs have been created directly from federal contracts awarded with stimulus finds. The result has been a "much needed lift in a very difficult period for our economy," Bernstein said in a statement.

While Bernstein said "early indications are quite positive," he cautioned against drawing broader conclusions from the data, which is based on just $16 billion of the $339 billion in stimulus funds that were distributed between Feb. 17 and Sept. 30. A more complete report that covers all the recipients of those funds will be released Oct. 30.

The administration projected the stimulus, known as the Recovery Act, would create or save 3.5 million jobs over two years. Republicans have been critical of the legislation, saying the spending would increase the deficit and still not get enough money into the economy to create jobs quickly.

"The direct count by Recovery Act recipients of jobs created or saved from this small percentage of the Recovery Act exceeds our projections," Bernstein said. "We look forward to the much larger, comprehensive report due on October 30th."

Even with stimulus spending, job growth continues to lag behind other indicators of an economic recovery. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month and the president has said he expects the rate to exceed 10 percent before it starts coming down.

Additional Steps

Obama and his advisers are considering a range of additional steps to boost jobs and bolster the economy. Options that are being reviewed include extending tax credits for first-time homebuyers and for businesses to hire workers.

The president yesterday endorsed a proposal to provide Social Security recipients with a one-time $250 payment next year. The Social Security Administration announced recipients won't get an automatic cost-of-living adjustment in 2010 because the recession have keep prices in check.