kdarling is actually very intelligent. What he, I and some others are trying to point out is that Apple's "claim"/interpretation is incredibly loose. And the fact that they are "touting" their numbers is quite the spin.
These kind of calculations are common here in Norway. Even the goverment does it all the time.
It can be a tool to illustrate how much a company or a sector contributes to the economy. People seem to think that Apple creates these jobs when they cleary say that they created _or_ support.
I am pretty sure if one did this calculation for Microsoft or Walmart, their numbers would be much higher.
Of course this is PR and it would be silly for Apple not to argue that they influence the US economy including jobs when they are under fire for using so many foreign employees.
We all want Apple, iPhone, iPad, iOS, OS X, Apple TV, Macs and everything Apple does to be hugely successful so we should be cheerful about everything that puts Apple in a good light.