Business

Later this week we'll get another snapshot of the U.S. job market: the last unemployment report before next week's presidential election.

Forecasters expect another sign of slow but steady job growth. Whoever is in the Oval Office next year will have to cope with a sluggish U.S. economy and confront some urgent policy decisions.

Audie Cornish talks to sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern, who has announced he will step down in early 2014.

The U.S. economy remains in a gray area, so it's no wonder that the presidential race is essentially tied.

Gross domestic product grew at a 2 percent annual rate between June and September, according to figures out Friday. The White House says this means the economy has been growing for 13 straight quarters.

As the election draws closer, the economy and jobs remain top issues in the presidential race.

President Obama points to the improvement in the labor market since he took office in the midst of a downward spiral.

Both he and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have five-point plans for improving the economy, although their strategies differ.

The U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says.

That follows growth (at annual rates) of 1.3 percent in the second quarter and 2 percent in the first.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is Cab crisis.

One of London's defining features is the black hackney cab. Along with the city's red double-decker buses, those shiny black cabs are moving London landmarks. But the company that makes them is in trouble.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Unable to pay its debts, the company this week went into what's called there, Administration. Harry Harris has been driving a London cab for 25 years, but he's not too broken up about this.

Just about every president since Richard Nixon has set energy independence as a goal, and both major candidates have brought it up the current campaign.

As it turns out, there is a place, not so far from here, that has achieved energy independence: Canada.

Canada produces far more oil than it consumes. They're not dependent on the Middle East! They've got all the oil they need!

I called Stephen Gordon, a professor of economics at Université Laval in Quebec City, to ask him about what energy independence means for his nation.

For better or worse, Microsoft has now shown its hand. The company Thursday showed off its new operating system, Windows 8, which will either mark a new era for the software giant in a hyper-competitive market, or spell its downfall.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

After plenty of hype, today Microsoft officially released its new operating system, Windows 8. The company calls the software its biggest change in 17 years. For the first time, the system runs on personal computers and on tablet devices, and Microsoft is banking on it as the companies take it to the future, as NPR's Steve Henn reports.

STEVEN SINOFSKY: Welcome, everyone, to Windows 8.

At a hearing last year, Ron Paul asked Ben Bernanke if gold is money. Answer: No. So why do central banks hold it as a reserve? Answer: Tradition.