Forgot I had this in my records for a post. I have no idea where I got it from so I apologize for not being able to give anyone their proper credit. The numbers are fascinating.
Category / United States Government
Are Pork Prices About to Become Cheaper?
In January I blogged about hog numbers expanding. Now more expansion has happened within the state and nationally. That is good news on the supply side which hopefully equates to some lower prices.
Here is more from HoosierAgToday.com –
Indiana’s total hog and pig inventory on March 1 was estimated at 3.65 million head, up 300,000 head from a year ago, according to Greg Matli, State Statistician, of the USDA, NASS, Indiana Field Office.
United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2015 was 65.9 million head. This was up 7 percent from March 1, 2014, but down slightly from December 1, 2014. Breeding inventory, at 5.98 million head, was up 2 percent from last year, and up 1 percent from the previous quarter.
Inflation Alert: College Textbooks
Recent data compiled is showing college textbooks are rising at a double digit rate. The National Association of College Stores has price comparisons on new textbooks college students buy.
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Average Price of New Books
2007: $56
2015: $72
Price increase of 22%
Here are some other stats concerning college students and textbooks
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Average student spending for a semester of course materials
$509
Average college bookstore profit margin for a new book
21.1%
Percent of students who buy their books at their college bookstore
47%
Percent of students who say they have skipped buying a textbook because it was too expensive
65%
Angie’s List Inc. is Perfect Example of Crony Capitalists
Angie’s List Inc.recently announced they put their Indianapolis project on hold due to the new RFRA law signed by Indiana Governor Mike Pence. This company has been bleeding money for quite some time and just went to the state begging for $18.5 million in public assistance. Here is snapshot I took this morning of how bad the stock has dropped in one year:
Overall Angie’s List announcement on this matter is more desperation than practical. Crony capitalist companies like Angie’s List use tactics like this to hedge their bets in order to get more money out lawmakers then standing up for some social issue.
Medical Bills Pile Up on GoFundMe
Lately on social media I’ve seen a plethora of people touting “GoFundMe” accounts to raise money for one specific area, medical issues. I decided to look up numbers to see how often it’s used by people for this issue and the numbers are staggering:
According to data from GoFundMe, in 2011 there were about 8,000 campaigns on the site, generating a total of about $1.6 million dollars in donations. Compare that to 2014, where there were about 600,000 campaigns and close to $150 million dollars donated.
Credit WHOtv.com for the data.
Inflation Alert: Beef Prices Hit Record High
Via CNSNEWS.COM –
The average price of a pound of ground beef climbed to another record high in February, hitting $4.238 per pound, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In August 2014, the average price for a pound of all types of ground beef topped $4 for the first time, hitting $4.013, according to the BLS.
In September, the average price jumped to $4.096 per pound; in October, the average price climbed to $4.154 per pound; and in November, the average price climbed to $4.201 per pound.
In December, the price declined slightly to $4.156 per pound. In January 2015, ground beef hit $4.235 per pound and in February 2015, according to the latest data from the BLS, the price of ground beef hit the highest level ever recorded of $4.238.
A year ago, in February 2014, the average price for a pound of ground beef was $3.555 per pound. Since then, the average price has increased 19.2 percent in one year.
Five years ago, in February 2010, the average price of a pound of ground beef was $2.277, according to the BLS. The price has since climbed by $1.961 per pound, or an increase of 86.1 percent.
Read the rest here.
Report: Shortage of 90,000 Physicians by 2025
In a report prepared for the Association of American Medical Colleges a grim outlook was given concerning physician supply in the United States. Here is what was found:
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Demand for physicians continues to grow faster than supply, leading to a projected shortfall of
between 46,100 and 90,400 physicians by 2025
The report can be read here. Much of the shortage will be from stronger demand of people getting on Obamacare.
USDA: 97% of Farms Owned by Families
USDA came out with some new numbers on who owns farms in America:
About 2.1 million farms in the U.S., 97 percent are what the report calls “family farms,”according to the the USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture Farm Typology.
Other key facts included in the report stated that 88 percent of those 2.1 million farms are classified as “small family farms” — operations with a gross cash farm income (GCFI) of less than $350,000 per year. Those small family farms contribute nearly 60 percent of all direct sales of product from farms to consumers.
Percent of Illegal Immigrants Who Skip Deportation Hearings
The federal government said the number of undocumented immigrants failing to appear at deportation hearings is on the rise.
According to the Executive Office of Immigration Review, the number of people who did not show after being released on bond or on their own recognizance grew by 153 percent in the last four years.
Immigration judges ordered deportations for those no-shows. About 30 to 40 percent of undocumented immigrants failed to appear at their hearings last year.
The statistics also show that judges grant asylum less than 50-percent of the time while immigrants from Central American countries get asylum an average of 2-percent of the time.
H/T KRGV.com
Top 2014 Restaurant Franchise Sales Statistics
New sales stats have been released for the top 50 franchise restaurants of 2014. Good numbers to look at if you are thinking about investing in one. I’m only posting the top 25, so visit StatisticBrain.com for the rest of the list. (Statistics are total sales / average store sales)
McDonald’s $35,600,000,000 / $2,600,000
Subway $12,100,000,000 / $481,000
Starbucks $10,600,000,000 / $1,223,000
Wendy’s $8,600,000,000 / $1,483,800
Burger King $8,587,000,000 / $1,195,000
Taco Bell $7,478,000,000 / $1,363,000
Dunkin’ Donuts $6,264,200,000 / $857,400
Pizza Hut $5,666,000,000 / $883,000
Chick-Fil-A $4,621,100,000 / $3,157,900
KFC $4,459,000,000 / $957,000
Panera Bread $3,861,000,000 / $2,427,200
Sonic Drive-In $3,790,700,000 / $1,074,000
Domino’s Pizza $3,500,000,000 / $710,200
Jack in the Box $3,084,900,000 / $1,379,000
Arby’s $2,992,000,000 / $993,200
Chipotle Mexican Grill $2,731,200,000 / $2,113,000
Papa John’s $2,402,400,000 / $829,000
Dairy Queen $2,300,000,000 / $545,000
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen $2,253,000,000 / $1,242,000
Hardee’s $1,900,000,000 / $1,145,000
Panda Express $1,797,400,000 / $1,237,000
Little Caesars $1,684,000,000 / $465,000
Whataburger $1,476,800,000 / $1,996,000
Carl’s Jr. $1,400,000,000 / $1,470,000
Jimmy John’s $1,262,800,000 / $878,800
Hoosier Econ 