The Week by the Numbers: November 3-9, 2013
By Matt Phifer
21 Percent – Chris Christie’s Margin of Victory in the New Jersey Governor’s Race
Chris Christie further bolstered his 2016 resume with a resounding defeat of Democratic challenger Barbara Buono in the New Jersey gubernatorial race 60 percent to 39 percent. Christie won re-election with majority support from men, women, independents and even three out of every ten Democrats.
1,500 – Pieces of Artwork taken by the Nazis Discovered in Munich
The German media revealed on November 3rd that 1,500 pieces of art looted by the Nazis was discovered in Munich during a 2011 tax evasion investigation of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of an art dealer. The investigators found the paintings, including some by Matisse, Picasso and Chagall, in darkened rooms in the basement. Gurlitt supposedly sold some pieces when he needed money. International warrants have been issued for at least 200 more works.
204,000 – Jobs Added in October
The Labor Department announced that 204,000 jobs were added during the month of October. The number was better than expected and shows that the government shutdown did little to slow down job growth. Despite the better than expected jobs numbers, the unemployment rate also rose, to 7.3 percent.
4.4 Billion – Earth-like Planets in Habitable Zones Orbiting Sun-like Stars
Scientists have estimated that there are 4.4 billion planets like the Earth in habitable zones orbiting sun-like stars, which means that Earth-like planets that support life could be quite common. The estimate is based off information gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope and other telescopes in Hawaii. The study said that of the 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, about 20 percent of those are similar to our sun. Of those stars, 22 percent have Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone.
The Week by the Numbers: October 20-26, 2013
By Matt Phifer
$17-20 – The Initial Public Offering of Shares of Twitter
Twitter announced that it would sell about 70 million shares of the company between $17 and $20 when it IPO’d. This would raise up to $1.6 billion and value the company at $11 billion. Twitter’s modest IPO price was chosen to avoid what happened to Facebook during its IPO in May 2012 when the company’s shares fell below their offering price.
35 – World Leaders’ Calls were Monitored by the NSA
Previously classified documents released by Edward Snowden show that the NSA was monitoring the calls of 35 world leaders. According to memos, the NSA encouraged workers in agencies such as the State Department and the Defense Department to “hand over their rolodexes.” The identities of the 35 leaders are not known, but the revelation comes not long after German chancellor Angela Merkel accused the United States of tapping her cell phone.
58 – Percentage of Americans Who Support Marijuana Legalization
On October 22nd, Gallup revealed that according to its polling, 58 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization. This is the first time in the poll’s history that a majority of Americans favored marijuana legalization. That is an eight percentage point jump from just two years ago and a drastic increase from the results of Gallup’s initial poll on the issue in 1969, when only 12 percent of those questioned favored legalization. In the past year, Washington and Colorado became the first two states to legalize marijuana.
148,000 – Jobs Created in September
The Labor Department’s delayed September jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.2 percent.