Report shows three in four states saw unemployment fall in October

Close to three-quarters of states saw their unemployment rates fall in October, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

In all, unemployment rates fell in 36 states, and employers in 39 states added jobs, in what could be a sign that the economy is strengthening across the country.

Only five states had unemployment rate increases, while nine registered essentially no change.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the state-by-state numbers a couple of weeks after reporting that the nationwide unemployment rate ticked down last month from 9.1 percent to 9 percent.

All told, employers added a net 80,000 jobs in October, and the bureau also revised upward jobs reports for previous months.

In general, a year out from the 2012 election, most presidential swing states showed little change in their employment rates.

Ohio, for instance, mirrored the national trend with a 9 percent rate, down from 9.1 percent in September. Florida, meanwhile, checked in at 10.3 percent (from 10.6 percent), and Virginia’s rate decreased from 6.5 percent to 6.4 percent.

All in all, nine states and Washington, D.C., have unemployment rates of 10 percent or higher, with Nevada and California continuing to have the highest rates in the country.

Three states (Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) have rates under 5 percent.