Quote for today…

People who say I’m hard to shop for clearly don’t know where to buy wine. – Unknown

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” If 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.

Topics include – e-cigarette settlement, COVID numbers, unemployment, Oath Keepers, Montana jobs, NFL Kickoff, House/Senate projections, Biden vs Trump poll, Biden approval, gas prices, and more!

6,100,000

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Tuesday announced that Montana will receive at least $6.1 million under an agreement in principle between JUUL Labs resolving a multi-state investigation into the e-cigarette manufacturer’s marketing and sales practices. (DOJMT.gov)

Maybe Knudsen can use the money to help the state prison.

1,048,989

That is how many people have died in the United States from coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There have been 95,020,855 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 1,046,244.

222,000

In the week ending September 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 222,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 4,000 from 232,000 to 228,000. The 4-week moving average was 233,000, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,000 from 241,500 to 240,500. (DOL)

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

38,000

The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military. It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets. (AP)

Incredible…

19,568

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte announced that Montana added 19,568 jobs last year, the most jobs added in a single year ever measured. (Source)

This is good news, but there is still a lot of “Help Wanted” signs around the state. I am hoping 2022 will be even better.

272

Tonight (Thursday), the Buffalo Bills head to Los Angeles to take on the Super Bowl Champion Rams. The game is on NBC and kickoff is at 6:20 pm Montana time. This is the first of 272 regular season games in the NFL. (Source)

Pro-Tip: It’s time to change the batteries in your remote! Go Chiefs!

74

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the Republicans currently have a 74% chance of winning the majority in the House. (Source)

Last week the chance of winning the House was 76%.

70

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, currently, the Democrats have a 70% chance of keeping the majority in the Senate. (Source)

Last week the chance of Democrats winning the Senate was 68%.

48% – 42%

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll now shows President Joe Biden leading former President Donald Trump in a 2024 rematch by the widest margin since March, 48%-42%. (Yahoo News)

Are the Republicans brave enough to ditch Trump and the MAGAs?

42.5

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, that is President Joe Biden’s current approval rating. (Source)

Last week, Biden’s approval rating was 42.4%.

0.084 – 11.23

That is the range of the price per gallon of gas around the world as of September 5, 2022. (Source)

In the USA, the average price per gallon of gas on September 5 was $4.10. Last week (August 29), the average price in the USA was $4.10.

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