More than 8,600 New Mexico teachers, construction workers and police officers kept their jobs or found new employment thanks to the federal stimulus package, says a new quarterly report by the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment.

Many of the government jobs were in education, and a "significant amount" were in the private sector, according to the report, which was required by the federal government.

That figure only includes a small chunk of stimulus spending in the state so far, and doesn't include so-called indirect jobs, like concrete suppliers who provide materials for a stimulus-paid construction job, said former Gov. Toney Anaya, who heads the state's stimulus office.

The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment's first quarterly report showed that for $77 million in spending through Sept. 30, 8,641 people had at least part-time work, which translated into about 4,100 full-time equivalent jobs, based on a federal formula for job creation that considers how many hours a person worked.

Anaya said the money for jobs and education spending in particular couldn't have come at a better time.

"We would be literally in a depression in this state if you took away a couple of the impacts of the stimulus," he said.

While he noted that some people do consider the state's economy to be in a depression, Anaya said things could be much worse.

"The other impact it's had that's hard to measure by the data I've been able to put together is we were able to at least temporarily balance the budget ... and schools didn't have to lay people off," he said.

"It's been a godsend on many fronts, but it hasn't been enough to save us from what's coming."

What's coming is a special session of the Legislature, in which lawmakers need to plug a budget hole that could amount to $700 million. Gov. Bill Richardson has already said he plans to use about $91 million in stimulus funding for public schools.

While some have welcomed the money with open arms, others worry about whether it will be here next year to pay for recurring expenditures.

The state is getting stimulus money for everything from airport improvement projects to new roads and energy-efficient traffic lights.

The jobs it has created include work for teacher's aides, weatherization equipment installers and some summer jobs, among other things. It wasn't immediately clear how many jobs were saved and how many are new.

That figure is one thing Anaya's office will sort through as it goes back over data required by the federal government.

That reporting process — required every quarter now — was quite a task, he said.

"What struck me about the reporting process was that it was just a horrendous challenge for the state," he said. It required just a huge effort on the part of state agencies ... I don't think there's ever been this kind of a reporting effort on the federal level, ever."

Overall, the state is expected to receive more than $3 billion from the massive stimulus package. One report said New Mexico would create or save 22,000 jobs, but Anaya said the number could be higher.

The new jobs come as the state is struggling with a rising number of people who are out of work.

New Mexico's unemployment rate in August was 7.5 percent.

The office also reported spending a total of $370 million in stimulus funds through Sept. 30, including unemployment insurance benefits, food stamps and Medicaid.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.