President-elect Barack Obama said today that he has directed his economic team to come up with a two year plan to “jump start job creation in America” with the goal of adding 2.5 million more jobs by January, 2011.

In his weekly radio address, Obama said he wanted “a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office.”

Coming a day after news that he intended to select New York Federal Reserve President Timothy F. Geithner as his Treasury Secretary, Obama’s promise was clearly an effort to demonstrate to markets and the financial world that the period between now and his inauguration would not be a time of limbo in the face of the nation’s financial crisis.

Even yesterday’s word of Geithner’s selection drove the Dow Jones industrials up 494 points after days of punishing declines.

Congress went home after a lame duck session this week without taking any significant action other than an extension of unemployment benefits, which President Bush signed. While Democrats have called for a big stimulus package that built on the $61 billion measure passed in September, the Bush administration has resisted such action.

“These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long,” said of his plan. “They represent an early down payment on the type of reform my Administration will bring to Washington - a government that spends wisely, focuses on what works, and puts the public interest ahead of the same special interests that have come to dominate our politics.”

Obama acknowledged that getting quick approval of his plan “won’t be easy” and promised to listen to “ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle.”

But he underlined the importance of action, noting the continued turmoil in the markets, a plunge in new home purchases in October and the highest number of jobless claims in 18 years that were filed last week.

During the campaign, Obama had proposed a refundable tax credit for companies that added jobs in the U.S., $25 billion for infrastructure projects that ccould be started immediately, $60 billion over 10 years for longer-term infrastructure projects, $25 billion in aid for state governments to prevent cuts in services and tax increases, $150 billion over 10 years for “clean energy” programs and a new mortgage tax credit for taxpayers who do not itemize, which the campaign said would mostly benefit those earning less than $50,000 a year.

Obama is expected to make known soon other members of his economic team as part of his efforts to show he is prepared to move quickly on the economy. He reportedly will tap Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, to head the Office of Management and Budget and is said to be considering Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration, as a senior economic adviser.