Report: Stimulus plan could be $1 trillion

Washington -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is considering a far bigger economic stimulus plan than before as job losses mount and the economy deteriorates, sources say.

Obama aides and advisers now see $600 billion spent on stimulus measures over a two-year period as "a very low-end estimate," with a final number likely to be between $700 billion and $1 trillion, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The U.S. unemployment rate is expected to hit 9 percent soon without aggressive intervention, officials say. That has prompted Obama's transition team to think bigger on a stimulus plan, with sources saying his economists have staked out $600 billion in the first year and $300 billion to $600 billion in the second, depending on economic conditions in 2010.

Transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter told the Journal that no decisions have been made on the size of the stimulus plan, saying, "Any speculation on size or scope is premature at this time."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.