WASHINGTON — In what Democrats hope is the first in a series of legislative victories, the Senate on Wednesday easily approved a $15 billion plan to spur job creation, a vote that lawmakers hoped would show that they were taking steps to improve the nation’s employment outlook.

The coalition that passed the relatively modest measure by 70 to 28 included 55 Democrats, 2 independents and 13 Republicans, a show of bipartisan consensus that has been rare on Capitol Hill in recent months. Democratic leaders said they hoped to follow up with other measures that would encourage small businesses to expand and would provide assistance to those who remain out of work.

“This package is not a panacea; it’s not going to solve everything,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate and co-author of the provision that gives employers an exemption from payroll taxes if they hire people who have been out of work for at least 60 days. “But because we have a jobs agenda, not just a jobs bill, we will keep at it and at it and at it.”

The measure now goes to the House, where Democratic officials have said they would like to move it rapidly to President Obama’s desk to allow them to claim one of their first significant achievements of the year. But some concerns about the Senate version were emerging in the House about how the costs of the bill were calculated and whether highway construction money would be disbursed in a way that favored a handful of states represented by Democratic senators.