Unemployment fell from 8.4% in August, but that mainly reflected a decline in the number of people seeking work, rather than a surge in hiring. The U.S. gained nearly 7 million jobs from Trump's 2017 inauguration until the pandemic struck. Yet President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012 even with unemployment at 7.8% on the eve of the election. In August, the latest data available, unemployment was 10.3% in Pennsylvania and 8.7% in Michigan, both above the national rate that month. The unemployment rate for Black workers fell sharply last month but is still much higher than it is for whites.