Youth employment programs, the AmeriCorps service program, private contractors and educators account for most of the jobs created or saved in Idaho using federal stimulus funding, according to state and federal reports.

The Obama administration announced in late October that more than 640,000 stimulus jobs had been created or saved as of Sept. 30. That includes 2,103 jobs in Idaho, according to www.recovery.gov, the federal government's main stimulus reporting Web site.

Despite budgeting more than $120 million in stimulus money for public schools in fiscal 2010, Idaho didn't report any job savings related to that funding during the first quarter. Budget director Wayne Hammon said that's because the state is trying to reduce paperwork.

"We give money to local school districts four times a year," Hammon said. "Rather than have them fill out (federal reports) four times, we'll have them draw all of the stimulus money at one time, during the October-December quarter. We'll spend the entire $120 million in one day, so they only have to fill out one report."

Idaho's numbers also don't reflect job preservation related to a sharp increase in Medicaid payments, which was included in the stimulus law. Had that money not been available, lawmakers would have had to take $118 million in general fund revenue away from other state agencies to pay for the programs.

Stimulus spending has other economic impacts as well, in addition to job creation or preservation. None of the state reports, for example, reflect the higher unemployment insurance benefits or expanded food stamp payments that were included in the federal bill. Nor do they include indirect job creation or preservation.

Private contractors involved in environmental clean-up efforts were among the largest stimulus beneficiaries, in Idaho and nationwide. Four of the 10 largest individual stimulus awards in the entire country went to the companies handling clean-up efforts at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls and the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington.

The Idaho award, for $438 million, is expected to create almost 500 jobs.