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Fla. Jobs Numbers Present Complicated Political Problem

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Florida's unemployment numbers have shown positive improvement over the past several months which presents Governor Rick Scott with a double-edged sword.

Florida's jobless numbers will be released Friday morning and it's expected the unemployment rate will either hold steady or drop slightly.

Governor Scott made job growth the singular focus of his campaign when he ran for governor in 2010. As both the federal and state jobless numbers have declined, Scott has been front and center in praising the job creation in the Sunshine State.

But, while that may help Scott's numbers, it has the possibility of running afoul of the message coming from the Mitt Romney campaign. Central to Romney's campaign for president has been the economy and specifically jobs.

With Florida being such a crucial swing state, Scott's trumpeting of the solid job improvements in the state is giving the Romney campaign headaches as it undercuts the main peg of its campaign. If jobs are improving in the state, then voters may believe something between the state and the federal government is working and it's not time to change midstream.

Other Republican governors in swing states are running into the same problem where jobs numbers in their respective states are improving and causing a cognitive dissonance between the state and the Romney campaign message.

Florida has 29 electoral votes and if things continue to slowly improve in Florida, it will present Scott with the difficulty of trying to deliver the state to Romney while also touting how well the state is doing.

Needless to say, jobs and jobless numbers seem to be falling into the category of making strange bedfellows.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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