3.6%
April 2019 unemployment rate—the lowest rate since 1969—announced Friday morning by the Federal Reserve. The U.S. added an estimated 263,000 jobs in April while average hourly earnings rose by 0.2%.
The jobs numbers followed last week's report that the U.S. economy grew by 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, combining to stifle concerns about overheated economic expansion.
163%
Stock gains for Beyond Meat on its first day of trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange on Thursday. The stock closed the day at $65.75 per share, after pricing at $25 per share at its debut.
The tech company focuses on creating plant-based meat substitutes that are available at more than 30,000 grocery stores, schools, and restaurants such as A&W and Carl’s Jr.
9-2
Odds for Game Winner to win the 145th Kentucky Derby this Saturday, the highest among the field of 21 horses.
Former favorite Omaha Beach dropped out on Wednesday after breathing issues, vaulting Game Winner into the top odds position.
1%
Required support in at least three major polls to qualify for the first Democratic presidential debate held in June; alternatively, a candidate can qualify by raising 65,000 unique donations.
17
Candidates who currently qualify for the first Democratic debate under the aforementioned conditions. The first event will be broken into two groups of candidates over two days of debates.
57
Protestors who have been killed to date in Venezuela in 2019 as the country reckons with a power struggle centered around opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The protests center around a skyrocketing cost of living, lack of economic opportunity, and Maduro's authoritarian control of the country since 2013.
The struggle escalated this week as Juan Guaidó—an opposition leader who has claimed he is the rightful interim president after a 2018 re-election of Maduro was plagued by claims of vote rigging and other corruption—called for nonviolent protests and called on the military to wrestle power from Maduro. At least four people were killed this week in protests, but the quasi-coup was eventually quieted.
More than 65 countries—including the United States, United Kingdom, and Brazil—support Guaidó's claim to the presidency while approximately 50—including Russia, China, and Cuba—support Maduro.
$6.5 million
The amount given to Rick Singer—leader of the college admissions scandal rocking U.S. higher education—by the mother of a Chinese student, helping secure the student’s place at Stanford. The amount is the largest revealed to-date in a scheme that placed the children of wealthy parents in elite U.S. schools including through bribes and fraudulent applications.
The mother, identified as Miss Zhao, claims she was scammed and made the donation without realizing it was illegal, citing a lack of familiarity with the U.S. college system.
100 million
The estimated Indian population in the path of Cyclone Fani, expected to make landfall at the town near the city of Puri on country’s east coast. With winds expected to reach 150 mph at landfall, the cyclone will be the strongest to hit the area since a 1999 disaster killed nearly 10,000 people.
