Unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that the economy added 146,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent.

Economists are forecasting nearly 100,000 fewer jobs were created in November than in October.

During the recession, Congress lengthened unemployment aid to a maximum of 99 weeks. If not renewed, the current extension will expire at the end of the year.

The number two official at the U.S. Federal Reserve, Vice Chair Janet Yellen, has thrown her weight behind a major change in Fed policy. The issue is how the central bank should schedule its stimulus policies.

This election, in part driven by the discrepancy between most media analysis and Nate Silver's data-driven electoral model, has prompted a debate about polling in the new media landscape. Frank Newport, of Gallup, says his polling still works but could be tweaked.

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

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.

A lack of jobs has not convinced many immigrants who came to Spain during better times to leave.

Since World War II, incumbent presidents have been defeated in election years when the unemployment rate is above 7.5 percent. What does that mean for President Obama and October's 7.9 percent unemployment rate?

Depending on political spins and eventual revisions, the final Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report before the presidential election, could be good or bad for whoever wins.