Economy, Iowa | featured news

Unemployment rates fell or held steady last month in nine key swing states at the center of this year's presidential election. Rates dropped in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and North Carolina. They were unchanged in New Hampshire and Virginia.

Returning to the state that launched Barack Obama’s path to the presidency, Mitt Romney went on offense Tuesday, accusing his rival of carelessly driving the country into "a financial crisis of both debt and spending that threaten what it means to be an American."

The president embarked on a three-day bus tour of Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota designed to underscore his resolve to lift the nation out of its morass.