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Some jobs cannot be outsourced: Obama

— Photo: AFP

Dire straits: A person who has been looking for work over the last year in Miami, Florida, on Saturday.

Washington: Asserting that certain manufacturing jobs cannot be outsourced, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said his proposed $800 million recovery plan would create millions of jobs in the country.

In his weekly radio address, Mr. Obama said a report prepared on this has found the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” would not only create three to four million jobs, but also 90 per cent of it would be in the private sector. “We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernising more than 75 per cent of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes,” said Mr. Obama.

“These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced,” he said.

“The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term,” he said.

The report has been prepared by his nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, and Vice President-elect’s Chief Economic Adviser Jared Bernstein.

With the American economy in deep recession, Mr. Obama said families across U.S. are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear. “If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world,” he said. Obama promised that his administration would not just create jobs, but would also provide help for those who have lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve been hardest-hit by this recession.

The first paragraph of a report "Some jobs cannot be outsourced: Obama" ("International" page, January 11, 2009) was "Asserting that certain manufacturing jobs cannot be outsourced, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday said his proposed $800 million recovery plan would create millions of jobs in the country." It should have been "$800 billion". -

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