When it comes to spending the economic stimulus funding, some agencies appear to be charging ahead of others in the first 100 days of the program.

So far, the Department of Health and Human Services has paid out more than $18.7 billion of the $29.5 billion in stimulus money it has available, according to the government’s Web site.

Second is the Social Security Administration with $15 billion in expenditures, mostly in the form of one-time payments of $250 to seniors.

Of course, those giant agencies are used to sending out checks — to the states for Medicaid, and to seniors for retirement income.

The Education Department ranks third, meanwhile, having spent $4.9 billion of the $38.8 billion it has available in stimulus money. That money has cushioned some of the blow from sharp cutbacks in state and local budgets brought on the by recession.

Surprisingly, the Department of Transportation which was expected to spend its stimulus allotment quickly on “shovel-ready” road and bridge projects, is lagging in fourth position. Of the $15 billion it has available, so far only $151.7 million has been paid out.

A total of $135.3 billion in economic stimulus money has been divided so far among some 28 agencies, ranging from the Labor Department to the Smithsonian Institution. Of that sum, $43.7 billion has been spent.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. , who is overseeing the recovery program for President Obama, said Monday that the goal now is “putting some pace on the ball here. ... Every hundred days, if we’re doing this right, Mr. President, should produce more than the last hundred days.”