MONTGOMERY - Alabama met the first deadline set by Congress for states to report their use of federal stimulus dollars, Governor Bob Riley said today.

State agencies reported their use of stimulus dollars and the number of jobs “created or retained” to the federal government over the weekend. It is the first of what will be quarterly updates on how Alabama spends its allotment of stimulus funds.

The federal government will post complete stimulus reports from all states on the Internet on October 30, but Alabama’s stimulus report is already available online at www.stimulus.alabama.gov, Governor Riley said.

Using formulas from the federal government, the stimulus is credited with creating or retaining 4,505 jobs so far.

The report shows that more than $1 billion has been made available to state agencies and two-year and four-year colleges from the federal government since the stimulus law passed in February. The state had expended approximately $531 million to state agencies and two-year and four-year colleges as of September 30.

“Alabama is investing these funds with full accountability and transparency and will continue to do so,” said Governor Riley.