Barack Obama has offered the first glimpse of what will be one of the largest public works programs ever in the US, hoping to create or save 2.5 million jobs, writes the Washington Post.

“We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least 2 1/5 million jobs, so that the nearly 2 million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future,” he said in his weekly radio address.

Says the Post: “Obama offered few details and no cost estimate for the investment in public infrastructure. But it is intended to be part of a broader effort to stimulate economic activity that will also include tax cuts for middle-class Americans and direct aid to state governments to forestall layoffs as programs shrink.”

Read the full story here.