Wall Street Journal Online (06/15/12) Josh Mitchell

Employers cut jobs in May in four states expected to play a key role in this year’s presidential election, and added them at a slow pace in five others. Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, and Iowa lost jobs in May, according to data released on June 15 by the U.S. Department of Labor. Employment grew tepidly in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Virginia. Ohio was the only one of the 10 states expected to be most tightly contested in November to register substantial job gains.

The jobless rate, meanwhile, rose two-tenths of a percentage point in Colorado and Michigan, to 8.1% and 8.5%, respectively. The rate remained above the 8.2% national average in three others, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada. Nevada, still reeling from the housing bust, had an unemployment rate of 11.6% in May, the highest of any state in the nation.