Career Advice & News Center

President Barack Obama is expected to announce today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will give $8 billion to states across the country to help create construction and travel jobs in the U.S.

Specifically, the endowment will be put to use to develop the first nationwide high-speed passenger rail service between American cities.

The initiative, which is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is one job creation proposal that is expected to unveil in the next several weeks, after he touched on several ideas to stimulate the nation's job market in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, January 27.

"By investing in high speed rail, we're doing so many good things for our country at the same time," said Vice President Joe Biden.

He added, "We're creating good construction and manufacturing jobs in the near-term, we're spurring economic development in the future, we're making our communities more livable and we're doing it all while decreasing America's environmental impact and increasing America's ability to compete in the world."

The $8 billion allocated to the project will fund the down-payment on development contracts for 13 high-speed rail corridors across the country. In total, 31 states will receive the government investment, which officials hope will create a long-standing industry with stable, well-paid jobs.

Analysts expect the funding to create or save tens of thousands of jobs in areas like track-laying, manufacturing , planning, engineering and rail maintenance. More than 30 rail manufacturers, domestic and foreign, have already agreed to establish or expand their operations in the U.S. if they are hired to construct the new high-speed rail lines.

In Florida, where Obama and Biden will announce the new grant, the rail system is expected to create 23,000 jobs, FoxNews.com reports.