Concern over the high unemployment rate of Los Angeles college students on the verge of entering the job market increased after President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill failed to make it through the senate last Tuesday despite pressure from the White House.

“I’m terrified about finding a job in this economy,” said Barbra Romer, an accounting major at the University of Southern California.

The national average unemployment rate has risen from 4 percent in 2002 to the current rate of 9.4 percent, according to the United States Department of Labor.

The unemployment rate in the Los Angeles area was reported to be 12 percent in August of this year. That is roughly 3 percent higher than the national average unemployment rate in the United States.

Part of Obama’s bill called for higher taxes on millionaires to fund efforts to put Americans back to work.

The measure received only 50 of the 60 votes required for the bill to pass.

Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana were the only Democrats to vote against the bill. Both face competitive re-election campaigns in the upcoming year.

Obama issued a statement last Tuesday accusing Republicans of obstructing the bill.

It is important to overcome the bias of political parties in order to solve the economic problems the Unites States is facing, he said.

Some Angelenos agree that party pressures are sustaining the current economic situation in the country.

“I think party pressures always have something to do with these issues, but the bottom line is that legislators are unwilling to pass another Obama bill that costs the taxpayers billions,” Mackenzie Malone, a business major at the University of Southern California, said. “Especially when his first bailout wasn’t exactly genius, or even effective. It would be irresponsible considering his track record thus far.”

Obama said he is prepared to break up the bill in order to get pieces of it passed. Obama also instructed his staff to move on with efforts to create American jobs in areas where congressional approval is not needed.

“We are not going to wait for Congress,” Obama said. Obama will now be focusing more on creating jobs for unemployed Americans, White House officials said.

Unemployed students are eager to see what solutions Obama has in store.

“Unemployment is not just going to go away,” Malone said. “Society is going to have to do some adjusting to get back to reality instead of waiting around for someone to wave a magic wand and cure unemployment. I think Obama is capable of helping us, but he needs to stop spending money.”

“Many of my family members and family friends are out of work,” Romer said. “Maybe Obama should imitate some of the programs Hoover used during the Great Depression. He should also focus on renovating industries to be more efficient to save money, and then revamp and build up companies to increase employment.”

The high unemployment rate in Los Angeles is causing anxiety among students and recent graduates of USC.

“In terms of the USC community, I think the process of getting hired may take a little more work than in previous years,” Malone said.

Malone said that a lot of students are planning to postpone entering the job market by enrolling in graduate school after completing their undergraduate work. “It’s another alternative that I think a lot of people are scared into because of the job market.”

“I think that both the people and the government in this country are going to have to deal with some serious reality in order for things to get better,” Malone said.

Reach reporter Jessica Dallas here