Republican presidential nominee John McCain has unveiled his plans for reviving the sinking US economy that include free trade and unemployment insurance.

The effort is seen as an apparent attempt to stave off criticism from Democrat Barack Obama that he would follow the unpopular policies of President George W Bush.

In a campaign in Colorado, McCain said on Monday he plans to reform an unemployment insurance scheme and worker re-training programmes besides opening markets, on winning the top post for which elections would be held in November.

"My opponent believes America will be better off by refusing opportunities to sell in growing foreign markets. But protectionism not only puts a hidden tax on almost everything you buy, but it undermines American competitiveness and costs jobs.

"About 95 per cent of the world's consumers live outside the US. Our future prosperity depends on opening more of these markets, not closing them," the Arizona Republican said.

"... But free trade is not a positive for everyone. If a worker loses a job we must retrain them and prepare them for 21st Century jobs. That's why I have proposed a comprehensive reform of our unemployment insurance and worker retraining programs," McCain said.

"And for workers of a certain age who have lost a job that won't come back, we'll help make up the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one until they've completed retraining and found secure new employment at a decent wage," he added.

Earlier, Obama took a swing at McCain for following the same economic policies of Bush who he blamed for the current economic crisis with skyrocketing gas prices, high job losses and rising food costs.

"If you are satisfied with the way things are going now, then you should vote for McCain. If you need a fundamental change then we have a clear choice in this election."