This story is part of What Happens Next, our complete guide to understanding the future. Read more predictions about the Future of Cities.
As of Dec. 29, the number of homicides recorded for New York City this year stood at 332. It’s a drop of 20% below the homicide rate of 2012 (419 murders) and the first time in over half a century that the city saw less than one murder a day on average. The historical data for homicide rates come from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.
This is an updated version of an article first published on Sept. 26, 2013.
We care a lot about design here at Quartz, and as a digital-only publication, we especially appreciate good web design.
The data shown above come from the Facebook dating app, Are You Interested (AYI), which works like this: Users in search of someone for a date or for sex flip through profiles of other users and, for each one, click either “yes” (I like what I see) or “skip” (show me the next profile). When the answer is “yes,” the other user is notified and has the opportunity to respond. It’s very similar to another dating app, Tinder.
The US economy added 165,000 jobs in April, beating expectations, and the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 7.5%. Here’s the breakdown of employment status for all Americans age 16 and above:
Whoops.
Mint the coin. Mint it.
A mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, has—as of the most recent police statements—resulted in the deaths of 27 people, including the gunman. Twenty of those victims were children.
Mass shootings like today’s in the US suburb of Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and several adults were killed at an elementary school, are usually followed by calls for more gun control. One Democratic congressman has already weighed in with comments to that effect, and at a press conference just now at the White House, an emotional President Obama said vaguely, ”We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”
The US economy added 146,000 jobs in November, beating expectations, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%. Here’s the breakdown of employment status for all Americans age 16 and above (Note: correction below):
Describing yourself to a potential employer can be an excruciating challenge: you have to hit all the generic key points while still sounding unique. To me, the box is a lot bigger than it is to most people—and I’m still thinking outside of it!
RICs, anyone?
Every year since 2008, Pew Research has asked citizens of various countries the same question: “Today, which ONE of the following do you think is the world’s leading economic power? The United States, China, Japan, or the countries of the European Union?”
News Corp.’s HarperCollins and CBS’s Simon & Schuster are discussing a possible merger, according to The Wall Street Journal (paywall), in another move toward consolidation in the book publishing industry.
“If we raise enough money to buy more than $5 million of debt, Donald Trump’s head will literally explode!”
Dog ownership, like cocaine use, can be seen as an economic indicator. As incomes rise, some people can afford to have pets for the first time, while others decide they can spring for new toys, trips to the groomer, or pricey organic kibbles. On a macro level, as countries develop, new industries—dog shows, puppy hotels—grow up around dog doting and pampering.
The US economy added 171,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate rose to 7.9%. Here’s the breakdown of employment status for all Americans age 16 and above:
The US jobs report was just released, and national unemployment in October stood at 7.9%. Because this is the last report before Tuesday’s presidential election, everyone is naturally asking: What does this mean for President Obama’s reelection chances?
Europe is a dog-friendly place. Countries across the region have more dogs per capita and per square mile than most other parts of the world (although in some European nations, the total pooch population has been shrinking along with the species that owns them).
Members of Brazil’s rapidly urbanizing middle class are working more, earning more, and having kids later. And to fill their tiny apartments in the meantime, they’re buying more and more dogs as pets. Brazilians, in fact, have nearly 20 million small dogs at home—more per capita than any country in the world, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor International.
If you’re wondering why Apple has bothered to release a smaller iPad, consider that the company’s share of the tablet market went from 81% to 52% in the course of one year. Not only have contending Android products captured a large piece of the market, but so has the Kindle Fire, with its 7-inch screen and $159 price tag.
Compared to other nations, the Chinese have been consistently sanguine (paywall) about the direction their country is taking and the opportunities they have. In a Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes survey published in July, 83% of Chinese polled believed the country’s economic situation was good. Of the 21 countries surveyed in the study, China was the only one where a majority (57%) believed it would be easy for young people to become wealthier than their parents.
Clearly, there have been more successful stints as chief executive. Citigroup’s share price is down just shy of 90% from Dec. 10, 2007, the day before Pandit was officially given the top job at the bank. The market capitalization of the stock doesn’t look quite so bad; it’s down only some 38% over the same period. Still, that equates to a vaporization of about $64 billion in shareholder value. The only reason the the decline in value of the company wasn’t a lot worse was because the US government had to bail the bank out by injecting taxpayer cash.
