Ohio and Florida — two of the most contested battlegrounds in the race for the White House — were among the states to see employment gains.

The new data comes just weeks after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate had unexpectedly fallen to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest level of President Obama’s term. The economy added a total of 114,000 jobs last month.

In all, seven states being contested by Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney saw a jobless rate drop in September, the government said Friday. Two other states that saw no change — Virginia (5.9 percent) and New Hampshire (5.7 percent) — already have rates well below the national average.