Obama ups jobs goal to 3 million
With a grimmer forecast on the horizon, the president-elect has raised his outlook for increasing employment.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama has decided to increase his goal for creating new jobs after receiving economic forecasts that suggest the economy is in worse shape than had been predicted, two Democratic officials told CNN.
The officials said Obama is increasing his goal from 2.5 million to 3 million jobs over the next two years after receiving projections early this week that suggest the recession will be deeper than expected.
One of the officials said Obama "challenged the team to think bolder" as some economists warn there is danger in the government doing too little to curb the recession.
They said the stimulus plan in the works in the Obama camp would have "oversight and transparency measures" to ensure spending on the plan would be focused on stimulating the economy and not devolve into just handing out congressional pork projects.
They said it also would include measures that will "lay a foundation for a stronger economy in the future" - such as health care, education and energy spending.
On Friday, Obama had repeated his original goal while announcing appointments to his cabinet and economic team.
"Together with the appointees that I have announced, these leaders will help craft a 21st century economic plan with the goal of creating 2.5 million jobs and strengthening our economy," Obama said.
The Obama team isn't putting a price tag on its economic stimulus plan, which Democratic leaders want to have ready for the president-elect to sign either on or very soon after Inauguration Day. Currently, the initial package is expected to cost somewhere between $500 billion and $700 billion over two years. 
