Washington ? President-elect Barack Obama has increased his employment goal with the nation’s economic outlook worsening, seeking to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years instead of the 2.5 million he proposed last month.

Obama set the more ambitious target earlier this week after meeting with top economic advisers who cautioned that the nation’s unemployment rate could exceed 9 percent given the current pace of job losses, Obama transition officials said Saturday.

During the presidential campaign, Obama pledged to create or save 1 million jobs. He increased that goal to 2.5 million over two years just last month.

Obama and his family traveled Saturday to his home state of Hawaii for a two-week vacation. But advisers were using Obama’s guidance as a roadmap for a draft stimulus package to have ready when he returns on Jan. 2, advisers said.

Obama met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his economic leadership team Tuesday in Chicago.