Hiring was healthy in past year in many US swing states

In this Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, file photo, a worker leaves a Georgia Department of Labor career center, in Atlanta.
In this Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, file photo, a worker leaves a Georgia Department of Labor career center, in Atlanta.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hiring has been strong in the past year in many presidential campaign swing states, a possible hurdle for GOP candidate Donald Trump, who has sought to capitalize on economic distress.

Employers have added jobs in the past 12 months at a faster pace than the national average in Colorado, Florida, Michigan and North Carolina, the Labor Department said Friday.

Job gains have been solid but slightly below the national rate in other battleground states, such as Ohio and Virginia.

On a monthly basis, hiring rose significantly in 15 states in July compared with June, the government said. The biggest percentage gains were in North Dakota, Vermont and Maine. The only state to lose a large number of jobs in July was Kansas, which shed 5,600.

Hiring was healthy nationwide in July, with employers adding 255,000 jobs, following a gain of 292,000 in June, the most in eight months. The U.S. unemployment rate is 4.9 percent.

Nationwide, total jobs rose 1.7 percent in July from a year earlier. That is down from a 2 percent pace in 2015 and 2.2 percent in 2014, which was the healthiest two-year increase since 1998 and 1999.

In Florida, traditionally a close-fought state in presidential campaigns, employers have added 250,200 jobs in the past year, an increase of 3.1 percent. In Colorado, payrolls have grown 74,200, or 2.9 percent. Michigan's job totals rose 2.5 percent and North Carolina's, 2.2 percent.

There has been extensive debate among economists and analysts in recent weeks over the extent to which economic hardship is driving Trump's support.

In the Republican primaries, Trump won strong majorities in hard-hit counties in Appalachia and the deep South, particularly parts of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky that were devastated by a sharp downturn in the coal industry.