The Real Economy

We check back in with Olalah Njenga, a small business owner and formerly undecided voter.

If you're 65 and unemployed, you're more likely to be that way for a long time.

Whoever it is, the next president could benefit from an improving economy. Housing prices are rising again and unemployment is expected to fall.

In many ways, the 2012 presidential election is a referendum on a number: the nation's unemployment rate of 7.9 percent. Reporters in Oklahoma City (unemployment around 5 percent) and San Bernardino, Calif., (unemployment pushing 12 percent) look behind the numbers.

Loudoun County, Virginia fence-sitters explain what got them to commit.

Indie rockers The National take a break from a recording session in upstate New York to talk politics and election issues, and perform a version of their economically inspired "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

When Marketplace went looking for music that had something to say about this election year and the issues that affect regular Americans, The National volunteered its song, “Bloodbuzz Ohio.”

Reporter Krissy Clark sits down with the lead singer of The National to see how a 'non-political' band makes music in an election year.

In the bucolic countryside of Loudoun County, Va., a hotly contested region of an important swing state, residents are crossing party lines to preserve their beloved way of life.

Virginia is a state both presidential candidates are hoping to win come November. One of the "swingiest" parts of the state is Loudoun County, where a government contractor is ready to put his job on the line to get the nation back on track.