Quote for today…

Doubting yourself is normal. Letting it stop you is a choice. – Mel Robbins

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you are a first-time visitor, this is the weekly column where I look at the numbers in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary sometimes sprinkled with sarcasm and humor.

This week’s topics include unemployment claims, deaths from coronavirus, Montanans fully immunized, voting rights, TWW Poll results, middle seats, U.S. Supreme Court expansion, Montana Legislature, fake veterans, White House Correspondents’ dinner, plus much more!

576,000

In the week ending April 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 576,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 25,000 from 744,000 to 769,000. The 4-week moving average was 683,000, a decrease of 47,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 6,500 from 723,750 to 730,250. (DOL)

*Note: On Thursdays, this column is published right after 6:30 a.m. (Montana time), so I can post the latest unemployment numbers.

564,405

That is how many people have died in the United States from coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 564,405 deaths and 31,422,380 cases across the country so far. The first death in the USA was reported on February 29, 2020. (Johns Hopkins)

Last week the death total was 559,117.

258,190

That is how many Montanans have been fully immunized for COVID-19. (SOURCE)

Last week the number of fully immunized Montanans was 220,114.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Montana’s estimated population in July 2019 was 1,068,778.

We should all be wearing masks and practicing social distancing until we have a higher percentage of fully immunized Montanans.

100

More than 100 U.S. companies including Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Ford Motor Co, and Starbucks Corp have declared their opposition to voting curbs that a number of states are considering implementing. Activist groups say the restrictions – outlined in voting rights bills already passed in Georgia and being weighed in, among others, Texas and Arizona – are specifically targeting Black people and other racial minorities. (Reuters)

I applaud these companies.

76

Here are the results from the latest poll from The Western Word that asked, “Should businesses require their employees to get the COVID vaccine?”

YES: 76%
NO: 12%
UNDECIDED: 12%

Thank you for participating!

57

A new study says leaving middle seats open could give airline passengers more protection from the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers said the risk of passengers being exposed to the virus from an infected person on the plane could be reduced by 23% to 57% if middle seats are empty, compared with a full flight. (AP)

Makes sense…

13

Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday (today) to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices. (NBC News)

This plan will be fun to watch…

5

A proposed constitutional amendment that would essentially ban abortion in Montana has failed to get enough legislative votes to be placed before voters in 2022. The Montana Senate on Wednesday voted 29-21 for House Bill 337, but that count gave the measure only 95 total votes in the Legislature – five short of the necessary two-thirds of the entire body to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot for voters to decide. (MTN News)

I am happy this failed.

2

The Montana Attorney General’s Office has conceded that a former Cascade County District judge (Greg Pinski) erroneously imposed a sentence condition requiring two men (Ryan Patrick Morris and Troy Allan Nelson) who falsely claimed military service in court to hold signboards in front of the Great Falls Veterans Memorial. The Montana Supreme Court subsequently remanded the cases to Cascade County District Court with instructions to strike the signboard condition of the sentence and adjust the amount of time served credit for one defendant. (Great Falls Tribune)

These men falsely claiming they were veterans is wrong, but I also believe that some of these district court judges are looking for publicity more than anything else.

2

The White House Correspondents’ Association on Wednesday said it was canceling its annual dinner for the second year in a row over concerns about the ongoing pandemic. (Politico)

I miss these dinners…

## WEAR A MASK TODAY ##