By The Numbers
1. FINALLY IN THE BLACK - The US government ran a $119 billion surplus in January 2022, breaking a streak of 27 consecutive months of deficits, and its first surplus month during the pandemic (source: BTN Research).
2. SMALLER HOMES - The average size of a single-family home built in the US in 2020 was 2,480 square feet, the 5th consecutive year that the national average size has declined (source: Census Bureau).
3. COULD THE INVASION IMPACT THESE EXPORTS? - 12% of the world’s wheat exports and 16% of the world’s corn exports come from Ukraine (source: Department of Agriculture).
4. WATER NEEDED - 74% of the land in the western United States (covering 9 US states) is in a “severe drought” as of 3/17/2022 (source: US Drought Monitor).
5. WORKING FULL-TIME - The number of Americans with full-time jobs peaked at 152.5 million as of 2/29/2020 (pre-pandemic), fell to 130.5 million as of 4/30/2020, and has since rebounded to 150.4 million as of 2/28/2022 (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).
6. BOOMERS RETIRING - Per President Biden’s 3/28/2022 budget projection, Social Security outlays will increase by +79% over the next 10 years, Medicare outlays will rise +118% and interest costs will rise +213% (source: White House).
7. TWO-YEAR (PLUS) GRACE PERIOD - The 37 million Americans with “direct federal student loans” have not been required to make a student loan payment since March 2020, i.e., since the start of the pandemic. $1.3 trillion of the $1.6 trillion in total student loans are “direct federal student loans,” i.e., a loan made directly by the Department of Education (source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
8. IT’S BAD EVERYWHERE - Global inflation is projected to rise by +7.4% during calendar year 2022 (source: International Monetary Fund).
9. SIDE HUSTLE - 27% of American adults earn money from “gig activities,” e.g., childcare, house cleaning, ride sharing, selling goods online or renting property (source: Report on the Economic Well-Being of US Households).
10. NO PLACE LIKE HOME - In the first 54 Super Bowls (1967-2020), no NFL team played and won the game on their home field. But in the last 2 Super Bowls (# 55 and # 56), the winning team (Tampa Bay in 2021 and the Los Angeles Rams in 2022) played and won the game on their home field (source: NFL).
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