Barack Obama yesterday stepped up the pace of Washington's stimulus spending with plans to create or save 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days – four times the rate achieved in the $787bn package's first 100 days.

The announcement, which followed last week's news that 345,000 jobs had been lost in May, a significant deceleration from earlier months, accompanies signs of growing public concern about the US president's spending plans.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 51 per cent of Americans disapprove of his performance on “controlling public spending” against 45 per cent who approve. Jobs – or fear of job losses – continue to top the list of voter concerns. More than 2m jobs have been lost since Mr Obama took office, against the 150,000 created or saved by stimulus spending.