SANDUSKY, Ohio – Campaigning by bus through swing state Ohio, President Barack Obama cast his re-election bid as a bet on the American worker Thursday, even as he braced for an unemployment report today that will help set battle lines for the hot summer to come.

The monthly unemployment numbers could alter or harden voters’ views of Obama’s core re-election argument that he pulled the U.S. back from recession while Republican Mitt Romney embraces policies that led to an economic near-collapse. A weak report could undermine Obama’s position, while improvement could help the president – though concerns about jobs are sure to be an issue through Election Day.

Obama chose to start his summer of on-the-road campaigning in two political battleground states that have a rosier economic outlook than some parts of the nation. Ohio and Pennsylvania had unemployment rates of 7.3 percent in May, well below the national average of 8.2 percent.