The Los Angeles Times reports that the failure of the stimulus to prevent high unemployment is weighing heavily on the Obama administration, and President Obama is shifting his focus to make sure that job creation (or the lack of it) doesn’t become an issue for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.

As the economy begins to pick up, it will be important that jobs don’t follow too far behind. President Obama met with business leaders and other members of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board in Washington on Monday to discuss public-private partnerships which could help create jobs…and quickly.

“Having brought the economy back from the brink, the question is how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families,” Obama said as he convened the group’s second meeting, broadcast live on the Internet. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs.”

Obama noted last week’s announcement that the economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter of the year, which signaled the unofficial end of the deep recession.

There were more positive developments Monday. Pending sales of existing homes increased for the eighth straight month in September, rising 6.1%, the National Assn. of Realtors said. September also was good for the building industry, as U.S. construction spending had its largest gain in a year, according to the Commerce Department. The key gauge of manufacturing, the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index, jumped more than expected in October, rising to a three-year high of 55.7.

Photo by Larry W. Smith (via Los Angeles Times) (via Getty Images)