Silly Statistics

I love daft statistics.

Although I could undoubtedly go on ad infinitum, this is just a sample of the America-based statistics I've uncovered at reputable sources:

• New Yorkers have the country's longest mean travel time to work: 30.9 minutes.
• Mormon state Utah has the country's highest birth rate, yet the lowest per-pupil spending on education.
• 40.5% of adult West Virginians have no natural teeth.
• 24% of Texans have no health insurance.
• 21.8% of Wisconsinites consume more than five alcoholic drinks at a sitting.
• Mississippi has both the country's highest teen birth rate and the highest death rate.
• Exactly a third (33.3%) of Americans have poor mental health.
• DC has a violent crime rate three times the national average.
• Despite introducing the world to peanut butter, 3.2 million Americans are allergic to peanuts or other nuts.
• 9.5% of American boys are diagnosed as suffering from attention-deficit disorder (ADHD).
• One-third of Massachusetts children are born by caesarean section (the national average is 30%).
• The national divorce rate in the US (3.6 per 1000) is almost half the marriage rate (7.5).

Statistics for Dummies

I knew that the recession was hitting people badly here in the States, but I didn't realise quite how badly.

This morning, I heard on the radio that pre-Christmas sales "fell by 400%". If this is true, people must not only have bought nothing whatsoever, but also returned three times as many products as they had bought in the same period last year.

Unless, that is, someone needs some help with their maths.