You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
4.8 percent drop
AB InBev, the biggest beer company on the globe, is buying up craft breweries, in part because the company’s main offerings are down. In 2013, Budweiser shipments fell 4.8 percent in North America. [Bloomberg]
6-3
The biggest news yesterday was the 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act. The effect was drastic and immediate from a markets standpoint, with the stocks of the five largest insurers jumping minutes after the decision. By 11 a.m., the decision had added about $3 billion to the combined market capitalization of the companies. [FiveThirtyEight]
8 percentage points
That’s the lead Hillary Clinton has on Sen. Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, according to a CNN poll released yesterday. Clinton used to be ahead by more. But this isn’t the first time a poll has shown Sanders closing in on Clinton, and she is still heavily favored to win New Hampshire and the nomination. [FiveThirtyEight]
14 percent
According to newly released CDC data from 2011, an estimated 14 percent of HIV positive people did not know they were infected. People who don’t know they have HIV are responsible for about a third of new transmissions of the virus. [The Verge]
18 days
With only 18 days to go until the Miss USA pageant, Univision announced it will not air the event. This is because Donald Trump — you know, the fellow who is No. 2 in Republican primary polls in New Hampshire — is a part-owner of the pageant and also made derisive comments recently about Mexico. When Trump gets a 3 a.m. phone call saying his pageant won’t be on TV, will he be ready to lead? [TIME]
43.4 percent
Retractions appear to be on the rise in scientific journals, but that may not mean people are getting worse at their jobs. From the early 2000s through 2012, the percentage of articles retracted from PubMed due to suspected fraud tripled to 43.4 percent. But, there’s evidence this is because the community is getting better at identifying fraud rather than getting more fraudulent. [Priceonomics and PNAS]
54 percent
The pay of CEOs at America’s companies is up 54 percent since the economic recovery began in 2009; the average employee’s earnings are totally flat. [The Guardian]
8,678 cases
Wish-Bone Ranch Salad Dressing — the liquid that fuels this great nation — has had a catastrophic mix up, and 8,678 cases of what is probably most Americans’ main source of Vitamin E are being recalled. Those cases were mislabeled and are actually bleu cheese dressing, not Ranch. When will our national nightmare end? [Fox Connecticut]
$72,400 in damages
A jury in New Jersey yesterday found an institution selling itself as an “ex-gay” therapy center guilty of defrauding customers. The defendants will have to pay $72,400 in damages. [Mic]
$150 million
LEGO is trying to find a more environmentally friendly material to replace the plastic currently used to make its bricks. Will the new material also be more friendly to the thousands of feet destroyed annually by stepping on a loose LEGO? [The Huffington Post]
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Walt Hickey was FiveThirtyEight’s chief culture writer. @WaltHickey
