Jobless rate dips in key states

WASHINGTON-- Unemployment declined in September in eight of 10 states hotly contested in the presidential race -- including Ohio, where job losses and a weak economy have boosted Democrat John Kerry's election hopes.

Yesterday's Labor Department report on regional and state employment in September was the last snapshot of the labor market before the election.

Jobless rates also declined last month in seven other states up for grabs by Kerry and President Bush in their race to 270 electoral votes: Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Colorado. Rates climbed in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Overall, unemployment rates fell in 23 states, rose in 22 states and held steady in five. Jobs were added last month in 33 states, declined in 16 states, and were unchanged in one.

In Ohio, which Bush narrowly won in 2000, the unemployment rate fell to 6 percent from 6.3 percent in August, mostly because job-seekers dropped out of the labor pool.

The national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent.

Ohio employers' payrolls grew by 5,500 last month, also helping to send down the jobless rate. But the state still lags far behind in jobs, losing 232,100 since Bush took office in January 2001. No Republican has won the White House without Ohio.

"Manufacturing is the heartbeat of the Midwest, and there's no question that manufacturing is still struggling," said Anthony Chan, senior economist with JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio.

Manufacturing employment in Ohio fell last month to its lowest level in decades, with just 823,700 workers on factory payrolls, down 174,300 since January 2001.

Across the country, manufacturing has gained about 70,000 jobs so far this year. But there are 2.7 million fewer manufacturing jobs in the United States since January 2001.

"We are definitely going to see a turn" in manufacturing, Chan said. "But from a political standpoint, it's not going to be fast enough to be evident before the election."

Bush, campaigning in Canton, Ohio, yesterday touted the tax bill he signed into law. "I signed a bill that's going to help our manufacturers -- that will save $77 billion over the next 10 years for the manufacturing sector of America," Bush said. "That will help keep jobs here."

Kerry, in Wisconsin, criticized Bush as the first president since the Depression to lose jobs on his watch. There are 821,000 fewer jobs in the United States than when Bush took office.

"When you add up the numbers, this state hasn't gained a single job in the last four years," Kerry said. "Not exactly what I'd call an economic recovery."

Wisconsin has lost 36,000 jobs since January 2001. The unemployment rate rose to 5 percent last month.

Job losses in two other battleground states, Michigan and Oregon, have helped Kerry win an edge there.

Oregon had the third-highest unemployment rate last month, at 7.3 percent, behind the District of Columbia and Alaska. In Michigan, the rate rose to 6.8 percent.

But other high-unemployment states are behind Bush, including Alaska and South Carolina.