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During the financial crisis, gold prices hit record highs as people looked for somewhere safe to park their money. In West Africa, that's had a devastating, deadly effect on children.

President Hugo Chavez has never faced a serious threat in a presidential election until now. A young former governor has been electrifying crowds and putting Chavez's 14 years of power — and his socialist experiment — at risk.

Amid steady rain at a campaign rally in Cleveland Friday, President Obama had some sunny economic news to share. The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since he took office. NPR's Scott Horsley reports from the campaign trail.

Friday, the MLB debuted its new playoff format: Two wild-card teams from each league played in a high-stakes, single-shot game to advance to the full playoffs. The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Texas Rangers, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves. NPR's Tom Goldman speaks with host Scott Simon about those games and the Rockets' Royce White, who plays in the NBA with a generalized anxiety disorder.

The government's monthly jobs report showed a surprising drop in the unemployment rate, down to 7.8 percent. The rate fell even though the number of jobs added to the business payrolls didn't increase much. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports on analyst's reaction to the news.

To this day, getting a third-party candidate into a presidential debate is practically impossible. So we invited two of the third-party candidates — Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein from the Green Party — to a debate of our own.

The unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8 percent — that's the lowest rate in President Obama's presidency. Numbers like these are calculated and released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and highly anticipated by not only politicians but money managers and traders around the world. In the run up to the release, the government office does everything possible to keep these numbers locked up. (This piece initially aired Aug. 3, 2012 on Morning Edition.)

The Labor Department announced on Friday the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009. Most big companies use software to screen resumes and ultimately move that unemployment number. These programs can be a big help for hiring departments, but a hindrance for job searches everywhere.

Despite the state's liberal reputation, voters there have never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate or the governor's office. Next month, control of the Senate may hinge on whether Massachusetts will vote for a woman, as Democrat Elizabeth Warren challenges incumbent Sen. Scott Brown.

Gov. Mitt Romney started his campaign calling for big tax breaks for the middle class. Over time his goals for those breaks have expanded to maintaining the government's flow of income and creating jobs. In the end, will a middle-class tax cut still be possible?