This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.In the American presidential campaign,Ohio is considered one of the battlegroundor swing states.These are states where the race is closeand could decide the winner this November.President Obama and Mitt Romney,the Republican Party's likely candidate,both gave speeches in Ohio on Thursday.The president has been helpedby falling unemployment rates in Ohio.The state's jobless rate dropped from over ten percent in twenty-ten to less than seven and a half percent.But President Obama has had a difficult few weeksthat began with a disappointing jobs report.The nation's unemployment raterose to 8.2 percent in May.Then, last week at the White House,Mr. Obama made the statement that"The private sector is doing fine."A reporter had asked him about claimsthat he is blaming the Europeansfor failures in his own policies.Mr. Obama answered that more than four million jobshave been created over the past twenty-seven months.He said that where weaknessesare being seen in the economy is in cutsby state and local governments.But his statement that private employersare "doing fine" quickly came under attack.Mr. Obama, speaking in Cleveland, Ohio,talked about a need to continue investingin manufacturing,the energy industry and education.He also called for economic fair playto help the middle class.BARACK OBAMA: "The economic vision of Mr. Romneyand his allies in Congress was testedjust a few years ago. We tried this.Their policies did not grow the economy,they did not grow the middle class,they did not reduce our debt.Why would we think that they would work better this time?"Mr. Romney, speaking in Cincinnati, saidMr. Obama's policies have hurt job growth.MITT ROMNEY: "Talking to small employers and big employers,I hear day in and day out they feel this administrationsees them as their enemy.They feel that the Obama policies have made it harderfor them to put people back to work."This week, the Federal Reserve, the central bank,reported on changes in family financesfrom two thousand seven to two thousand ten.Part of that three-year periodhas been called the Great Recession.So how much wealth did the recessionand slow recovery destroy?The report says the median net worth of families in twenty-tenwas close to the same levels as in nineteen ninety-two.Median means the point where half the familieswere higher and half were lower.Net worth is what remains after removing debtsfrom the value of homes, bank savings and other assets.Median net worth was one hundred twenty-six thousandfour hundred dollars in two thousand seven.Three years later it was down toseventy-seven thousand three hundred dollars.The numbers are corrected for inflation.The report says falling home pricesas a result of the collapse of the housing marketcaused most of the drop in wealth.Lawrence Yun is chief economistof the National Association of Realtors.He says falling home pricesmake families less willing to spend money.LAWRENCE YUN: "A decline in home value has a major impacton the economy because for most homeownersthe largest wealth holding is in their housing.And, therefore, if the home values decline,it makes the homeowners much more conservativeabout their spending outlook."Mr. Yun says there are signsthat the housing market is improving.And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.Go to 51voa.com for more...