Extract from BBC News, UK, 23 Nov 2008"US President-elect Barack Obama says he wants his economic team to find ways to generate 2.5 million new jobs during his first two years in office.
In a weekly address on the internet, Mr Obama said he wanted to sign the plan soon after taking office on 20 January. The message came as unemployment claims rose by 540,000 in the US, taking the total to 1.2 million jobs lost in 2008.
Mr Obama, said to have chosen Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary, is due to name his economic team on Monday. Mr Geithner, currently chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has been deeply involved in the efforts to cope with the current financial crisis.
He previously worked in the Bill Clinton White House, where he worked through the fallout of the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.
US shares rose sharply on Friday as word spread of Mr Obama's reported choice, calming investor fears.
Building jobs
Talking about his desire to put job-creation at the heart of the economic policy of the incoming administration, Mr Obama said new unemployment figures reinforced the impression of an economic crisis of "historic proportions".
He hailed congressional approval of a boost in unemployment benefits, adding that the latest gloomy figures had only reinforced his determination to revitalise the economy.
"We must do more to put people back to work, and get our economy moving again," the president-elect said.
He said his economic priority would be a two-year, nationwide effort to "jumpstart job-creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy".
Ageing public infrastructure would be rebuilt, Mr Obama said, adding that his administration would look quickly at developing and building sources of renewable energy, such as wind farms, designed to "free" the US from its "dependency" foreign oil.
He suggested he would need cross-party support to get his plan through, despite his Democratic party holding a majority in both houses of Congress.
"Right now there are millions of mothers and fathers who are lying awake at night wondering if next week's pay check will cover next month's bills.
"There are Americans showing up to work in the morning only to have cleared out their desks by the afternoon. These Americans need help and they need it now," Mr Obama said".
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