The Obama administration, in its latest progress report on the $787 billion stimulus program, revealed both the overall economy and employment continued to be in better shape at the end of 2009, indirectly providing a proof that its much-maligned efforts to spur economic recovery have grabbed a grip on the economy.

The fourth quarter witnessed the stimulus plan's tax cuts and expenditure reported a 2% points to the GDP growth, which is the size of the economy as measured by the total goods and services produced, claimed the council's report.

However, employment touched 10% at the year's end, 2% higher than expected by the council. The data cites the number of jobs was between 1.5 million to 2 million greater in the fourth quarter than it would have been without the recovery plan.

Private forecasters project that the economy grew about 4 percent in the year's final quarter, surpassing the expectations attributed to the stimulus plan.

In addition, spending and tax cuts have been revealed to average roughly $85 billion a quarter, and by the forth quarter, about one-third of the $787 billion economic recovery act - $263 billion - has gone out the door till 2009 end.

The White House speculated that the clean-energy spending will end up bankrolling 720,000 "job-years" by 2012 i. e. 720,000 jobs lasting one year each.