Several battlegrounds states, including Florida, Nevada and Ohio, saw large drops in unemployment over the last 12 months, the government reported Wednesday.
| 1 | Nevada | 11.8 | -1.8 |
| T-2 | Florida | 8.7 | -1.7 |
| T-5 | Ohio | 7 | -1.6 |
| T-11 | North Carolina | 9.6 | -1.1 |
| T-27 | Iowa | 5.2 | -0.7 |
| T-37 | Virginia | 5.9 | -0.4 |
| T-39 | Colorado | 8 | -0.2 |
| T-42 | Wisconsin | 7.3 | -0.1 |
| T-48 | New Hampshire | 5.7 | 0.3 |
The latest state-by-state numbers, the last batch before the election, show that Nevada actually saw the largest drop of any state. The unempl oyment rate declined by 1.8 percentage points between September 2011 and September 2012, although the state still has the nation's highest unemployment rate, 11.8 percent.
Florida and Ohio also ranked among the 10 states with the largest drops in unemployment, down 1.7 percentage points and 1.6 points respectively.
Other battleground states lagged behind. New Hampshire was one of only six states that saw an increase in unemployment, although its situation is the mirror image of Nevada's - it still has one of the nation's lowest unemployment rates.
The table shows the September unemployment rate and 12-month change for each of the nine states that The New York Times regards as tossups. A letter T in a state's ranking denotes a tie.
Follow Binyamin Appelbaum on Twitter at @BCAppelbaum.
