U.S. swing states post job gains in August

Good news for America and for the President:

The U.S. economy added 61,900 jobs in August in 10 of the 16 key states that may decide the next presidential election now 46 days away.
Florida, Arizona and Colorado posted the largest gains among swing states, the U.S. Labor Department said on Friday in its monthly summary of labor conditions in the 50 states.

Florida added 16,600 jobs in August from July, while Arizona added 10,200 jobs and Colorado reported an increase of 8,200 jobs.

Those are three of the 16 states where some polls indicate the race between Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry is too close to call.

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

The 10 swing states that saw job increases control 116 electoral votes. The six that reported job losses control 63 electoral votes.