Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Federal stimulus funds created or saved 1,622 jobs in Arkansas durin the last three months of 2009, the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment said in a report released today.

The number is significantly smaller than the 2,633 jobs the office reported were created or saved in July, August and September of last year, but the office said in Friday’s report that the method of counting jobs has changed, so comparisons “would be inaccurate.”

To increase the accuracy of the job total, the federal government now requires the state to determine the total number of hours worked, then divide by the number of hours in a full-time schedule.

The report also says Arkansas was awarded $1.16 billion in stimulus money in the last three months of 2009. Of that amount, $474.7 million has been received and $240 million has been spent.

The report states that according to the latest estimates, Arkansas is expected to receive a total of $3.17 billion in federal grants, loans and other investments as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the report states.

“All over the state recovery funds are at work, helping Arkansas’ economy and its people,” the report states.