You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news. Today’s number is $3.2 million, the value of legal cannabis sold in the state of Illinois on its first day, according to Bloomberg News.
10.6 percent of movie directors
The number of women holding the reins to the 100 top-grossing movies of the year was at its highest level in 2019 since at least 2007, though women — and particularly women of color — are still significantly underrepresented as directors. According to a study released Thursday from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 12 of the 113 directors last year were women (10.6 percent), and four were nonwhite women (3.5 percent) — both high-water marks. But in the 13 total years of the initiative’s study, only 4.8 percent of the 1,300 movies analyzed were directed by women, and less than 1 percent of all directing jobs went to nonwhite women. [The Los Angeles Times]
81-game suspension
Major League Baseball announced on Thursday that New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán had been suspended for 81 games under the sport’s domestic violence policy for an incident in September involving his girlfriend. The 27-year-old player will miss 63 games in the 2020 season; the suspension retroactively includes the nine regular-season and nine postseason games Germán missed while on administrative leave last year. He will not appeal the decision. [USA Today]
5.8 percent increase in drug prices
Prices for hundreds of pharmaceuticals went up on New Year’s Day, though the increase was actually smaller than that of a year ago. Data analysis from software company Rx Savings Solutions found that more than 60 drugmakers increased their prices on Wednesday by an average of 5.8 percent, following last year’s increase of 6.3 percent. Pfizer Inc. saw the largest average increase this year, raising prices by more than 9 percent on dozens of products. [The Wall Street Journal]
119-year-old temperature record
India often faces summer heat waves, but unseasonably cold weather is afflicting the northern part of the country this winter. On Monday, New Delhi broke a 119-year-old record for December when the maximum temperature reached just 49 degrees Fahrenheit — about 20 degrees lower than average, according to The New York Times. Air pollution levels are high because of the fog and stagnant winds, while a lack of centralized heating has resulted in school closures and hospitals flooded with patients suffering from pneumonia, coughs and colds. [The New York Times]
26 deaths from flash floods
Severe flooding this week in Greater Jakarta has killed at least 26 people and forced more than 30,000 to evacuate. Heavy rains fell Tuesday and Wednesday across the flood-prone Indonesian capital, causing landslides and stranding some residents. Public transportation throughout Jakarta has also been affected. [The Jakarta Post]
1.6 percent decline in beer consumption
If you’re thinking about cutting out or reducing booze as part of your New Year’s resolution, you’re far from alone — and major beer companies have more products aimed at your goal. In 2018, there was a 1.6 percent decline in beer consumption, with consumers reducing their overall intake or shifting toward cider and hard seltzer. Companies like Heineken and Molson Coors have launched no- or low-alcohol beers to jump on that trend and are promoting them this month as part of Dry January. [CNBC]