UNO Political Science Professor Ed Chervenak sees the nation's latest unemployment figures as a benefit for President Obama as he fights to keep his job.

The Labor Department reports U.S. employers added 171,000 jobs in October and hiring was stronger over the previous two months than first thought. The unemployment rate inched up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in September because the work force grew.

"One of the things he (Obama) can argue is that the economy is moving in the right direction, that jobs are being added," Chervenak said in an interview with 99.5FM Friday.

Chervenak says it's hard to say whether the benefit is enough to tip the scales and give Obama a win on Nov. 6, but it may sway a few undecided voters.

"It's a very, very close race. It may tip those few undecided voters to decide, okay, we'll rehire this guy."

Chervenak says he expects Mitt Romney to say that yeah, jobs are being added, but it's still not enough to reduce the unemployment rate.

"He's gonna say that it's just not strong enough a recovery. Typically, we need about 250,000 jobs per month just to keep up with the growing work force."