Category — General

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

51% – More than three-quarters of Americans have heard about the state of Arizona’s new immigration law, and of these, 51% say they favor it and 39% oppose it. (Source: Gallup, Inc.)

$1.7 Billion – The estimated combined loss incurred by airlines during the six-day travel shutdown due to the eruption of the volcano at Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. (Source: Associated Press)

55% – The percentage of surveyed business executives who believe Goldman Sachs is guilty of fraud. Twenty-one percent feel the company is innocent, while 24% said they were unsure. (Source: Argyle Executive Forum)

33% – The percentage of American teenagers who send more than 100 text messages a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. Half of all teens send 50 or more text messages a day. (Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project)

No. 1 – Fifteen countries attract about 500 million of the roughly 700 million adults worldwide who say they would like to relocate permanently to another country if they could. Gallup finds the U.S. is clearly the No. 1 desired destination among these potential migrants, with more than 165 million saying they would like to move there, and neighboring Canada is a distant second with 45 million. (Source: Gallup, Inc.)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

8.8% – The vacancy rate at big U.S. shopping malls, the highest rate in at least a decade. Asking rent fell 0.6% to an average $38.79 per square foot, the lowest in four years. (Source: Reis Inc.)

29% – The percentage of U.S. CEOs who said they plan to add jobs in the United States over the next six months, compared with the 21% who plan to cut. This marks the first time since the first quarter of 2008 that more CEOs plan to add jobs than to eliminate them. (Source: Business Roundtable)

$1.6 Billion – The estimated value of the New York Yankees, the most valuable team in Major League Baseball, up 7% from last year. The Boston Red Sox became the second-most-valuable team, at $870 million, surpassing the New York Mets, at $858 million. (Source: Forbes)

830 – The number of video games that have already been developed for Apple’s iPad tablet computer, which went on sale April 3. That number doesn’t include the 25,000 iPad Touch and iPhone games that also can be played on the new gadget. (Source: Reuters)

$1.4 Million – The price paid for the eight-bedroom house next door to the Obama family home on the South Side of Chicago. The previous owners bought the 6,000-square-foot home in 1973 for $35,000. (Source: Associated Press)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

60% – Sixty percent of consumers aged 28-43 with an income of $75,000 or more have a paid financial advisor. (Source: LIMRA)

$1,433 – The cost of a Continental Airlines round-trip ticket from New York to Omaha, Neb., on the first weekend in May, when Berkshire Hathaway Inc. holds its annual shareholder meeting. It’s four times the regular rate. A New York-Paris round-trip ticket on that same weekend costs $1,142. (Source: Bloomberg)

14-5 – The odds the New York Yankees will defend their World Series title this coming season, the favorites among oddsmakers. Division rival Boston Red Sox are the second choice at 11-2. (Source: Las Vegas Sports Consultants)

20% – Americans’ confidence in U.S. banks remains near its historical low, at 20%—not much different from the 18% of a year ago and 22% of last summer, At the same time, 58% continue to express confidence in the bank they use to do most of their banking. (Source: Gallup)

$4 Billion – The 2009 compensation in fees and capital gains for David Tepper of Appaloosa Management, making him last year’s top-paid hedge fund manager. George Soros ranked second, with a $3.3 billion payday. (Source: The New York Times)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

20% – Americans’ self-reported daily spending averaged $72 per day last week — up 20% from the prior week and 31% from the same week a year ago, and the most since the week ending Dec. 20. (Source: Gallup)

70% – The percentage of surveyed Americans who support using current bank regulators for consumer protection, backing positions held be the financial industry and Republicans over President Barack Obama’s proposal to establish an independent agency. (Source: Bloomberg News)

81% – The percentage of single-family-home mortgages in Las Vegas that are underwater, or owe more on the home than the property is worth, the most of any U.S. city. (Source: Zillow.com)

20% – A new survey by Allianz Life reports that employed Americans between 35 and 64 are 20 percent more likely to alter their financial strategies than retirees and those over 65. (Source: SeniorMarketAdvisor.com)

60% – Sixty percent of consumers aged 28-43 with an income of $75,000 or more have a paid financial advisor. (Source: LIMRA)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

6.41% – The percentage of people who are millionaires in Hawaii, the highest of any state. That amounts to 28,363 households. Mississippi has the lowest percentage of millionaire households, with 3.06% or 33,792. (Source: Phoenix Marketing International)

43% – The percentage increase in the cost of TV ads for the upcoming Masters golf tournament (April 5-11) after Tiger Woods chose that venue to mark his return to golf. With Mr. Woods playing, a 30-second commercial costs about $500,000; without him, it would have cost $350,000. (Source: Bloomberg News)

22% – The percentage decrease in the 2009 median bonus payout to CEOs of companies with at least $1 billion in sales. The median bonus declined to $689,000, from $882,000 in 2008. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

$1.8 B – The estimated cost in “unproductive wages” to U.S. companies last week as a result of workers’ spending time cheering on their teams during the first round of March Madness. (Source: San Jose Mercury News)

14 – The number of companies in the S&P 500 that have chairwomen. Eleven of those women are also chief executives of their companies. (Source: The Corporate Library)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

36.3% – The percentage of 142 million tax returns filed in 2008, or 51.6 million, that resulted in no federal tax payment, a record. The old record was set in 2006, when 33% of tax filers paid nothing. (Source: Tax Foundation)

64% – Undoubtedly driven in part by her continuing efforts to pass the national health care plan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains the most unpopular congressional leader, as she has for months. Pelosi is now viewed unfavorably by 64% of voters, which ties a high reached in August. That number includes 47% with a very unfavorable opinion of the California Democrat. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

81% – An overwhelming majority of Americans (81%) continue to believe that people learn more practical skills through experiences and work after college rather than in college. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

73% – The percentage of employers that don’t anticipate hiring more staff from April through June, the same as in the first quarter, which is the highest since records began in 1972, Just 16% of surveyed employers said they expect to expand their payrolls. (Source: Manpower, Inc.)

$997.07 – The average consumer spending on home entertainment and media (excluding land and cell telephones) in 2009. (Source: Census Bureau)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

13% – The increase in investment-banking fees for Wall Street firms for in 2009 to $59.8 billion, from $53.1 billion. It was still well below the recorded $86.9 billion hit in 2007. (Source: Bloomberg)

1.26 – The number of microseconds shorter the length of a day is on Earth as a result of the massive earthquake that struck Chile, the seventh-strongest quake in recorded history. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second. (Source: Associated Press)

2,378 – Tiger Woods’ ranking out of 2,500 celebrities in the David Brown Index, which is used by ad Agencies to gauge the abilities of celebrities to influence consumers. Mr. Woods once ranked 117th, putting him near singer Reba McEntire and comedian Robin Williams. His new ranking puts him in the company of rapper Lil’ Kim and rocker Ozzy Osbourne. (Source: Bloomberg)

34% – Thirty-four percent of Americans expect the unemployment rate in the United States to be higher a year from today. That marks a fivepoint increase from December. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

57% – Fifty-seven percent of voters say the health care reform plan now working its way through Congress will hurt the U.S. economy. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

57% – Nearly 6 in 10 Americans now say they are spending less money than they used to, and 38% say this reduced spending will be their new, normal spending pattern. (Source: Gallup)

2.6 Million – The number of gallons of water in a shark-filled aquarium in a ritzy Dubai mall that sprung a leak last Thursday, sending shoppers scattering. None of the 33,000 fish inside was harmed. (Source: Associated Press)

75% – Percent of today’s workers expect to continue to work for pay after retirement. Fifty Percent (50%) of those aged 50 to 70 have postponed their expected date of retirement and 66% say they are waiting to retire because they need to rebuild their financial resources. (Source: Metlife Mature Marketing Institute)

$20.3 Billion – Wall Street bonuses paid out last year, up 17% from 2008, but down about a third from 2007. The average bonus for workers in the industry last year was $123,000. (Source: New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli)

702 – The number of U.S. “problem” banks as of Dec. 31, a 27% increase from the 552 banks at the end of the third quarter and the highest level in 17 years. Problem banks account for 8.7% of all U.S. lenders. (Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

51% – Fifty-one percent of American adults believe decisions made by U.S. business leaders to help their own business grow will do more for the economy than decisions made by the government. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

$203,500 – The median price of a new home in the U.S. decreased to $203,500 in January, the lowest since December 2003, from $208,600 in the same month last year. (Source: Bloomberg)

1 in 5 – In the second quarter of 2009, over one in five households reported they are wireless cellular only–an increase of 16% from the past year. This increase comes from the two-thirds of households who have dropped their landlines as well as from young adults that started new households with just a wireless phone service. (Source: Nielson)

$1 Trillion – The gap between what U.S. states have saved and what they have promised to retired public workers for pension and health care benefits. States have saved $2.35 trillion of the $3.35 trillion owed to workers.(Source: The Pew Center on the States)

10 – The number of consecutive months, through January, during which an index of leading economic indicators rose, pointing to an expanding economy for the first half of this year. The series of gains in the index was the longest since 2004. (Source: Conference Board)

Here are some random, but relevant statistics that I’ve collected the past week.

59% – Fifty-nine percent of Americans still hold at least a somewhat favorable view of Toyota even as the embattled automaker adds at least 300,000 2010 Prius models to the eight million cars it is already recalling worldwide over safety issues. That number includes 22% with a very favorable opinion. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

544 – The number of medals won by U.S. athletes in the Winter Olympic Games, the most by any country. Canada is next, with 496, followed by the USSR, with 495. (Source: Waterbury Republican American)

61% – Sixty-one percent of Americans say it is better for the economy for the government to stay out of the housing market. That’s an eight point jump from September. (Source: Rasmussen Reports)

2.5 Million – The number of job openings in the U.S. in December, up 63,000 from the prior month and the first increase in three months. The gain indicates that employers are feeling more confident about the economy. (Source: U.S. Labor Department)

106.5 Million – The number of viewers for the Super Bowl this month. That total exceeded the 1983 finale of “M*A*S*H,” making it the most-watched program in TV history. (Source: Nielson Co.)