US President-elect Barack Obama naming, or at least leaking to the press, his cabinet picks faster than nearly all of his predecessors, CNN reported yesterday.

"If we do not act swiftly and boldly, most experts believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said Monday, when he nominated Timothy Geithner as next treasury secretary.

With an economic crisis spiraling out of control and a lame duck president in the oval office, presidential scholars say the next commander in chief simply had no choice.

"This is really unprecedented. But it's an unprecedented situation," said Larry Sabato, a presidential scholar at the University of Virginia.

In recent times, only former President George H.W. Bush, father of current President George W. Bush moved more quickly, but that was to name confidant James Baker to secretary of state just days after the election.

Both Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton waited until December for their first picks.