COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The nation’s unemployment rate of 8.2 percent may sink President Barack Obama’s re-election bid, but one detail brightens his hopes. About 10 battleground states will decide the election, and seven of them have employment levels that beat the U.S. average.

That doesn’t guarantee a second term, of course. But it’s a reminder that the national rate, from a purely political standpoint, is not necessarily the be-all, end-all statistic.