Obama vows to rebuild US

US President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to invest in the country's infrastructure on a scale not seen since then President Dwight D. Eisenhower built the country's Interstate system in the late 1950s.

Using his weekly national address to outline spending plans that would create about 2.5 million new jobs, Mr Obama said, "We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We'll invest [US] tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we'll set a simple rule - use it or lose it. If a state doesn't act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they'll lose the money."

With US unemployment rising by 500000 in November - the biggest monthly rise since 1974 - Mr Obama said the country needs to "act with the urgency this moment demands."

In a statement on his website, Mr Obama also outlined plans to create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to "expand and enhance, not supplant, existing federal transportation investments."

This independent entity will be directed to invest in the US's "most challenging transportation infrastructure needs." It will receive US$ 60 billion of federal money over 10 years, to provide financing to transportation infrastructure projects across the country.

These projects will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate approximately US$ 35 billion per year in new economic activity, said Mr Obama.

The US President-elect also said he will launch the "most sweeping effort to modernise and upgrade school buildings this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms."