Thursday, Mar. 20, 2008

Numbers

MORTGAGES

46,700 Number of U.S. mortgage-fraud reports in 2007. Deliberate deception on mortgage applications has cost the banking industry $1 billion over the past decade

2% Percentage of properties in foreclosure last year in Florida, the state with the highest rate of mortgage fraud

BASKETBALL

1 Number of the four top-seeded colleges in the NCAA men's basketball tournament that have at least a 50% graduation success rate among their players, according to a new study. The rate at UNC is 86%, while those at Kansas, UCLA and Memphis are below 46%

$545 million Projected TV ad sales for this year's tourney

AEROSPACE

4 Estimated number of hours it will take to fly from London to Sydney on a beyond-the-atmosphere space plane being developed by Europe's EADS Astrium

$315,000 Estimated cost per ticket aboard the proposed four-passenger craft. The 10,600-mile (17,000 km) journey currently takes more than 21 hours and costs about $1,000

LABOR

25.2% Percentage of New York residents belonging to labor unions in 2007--the highest of any state

27 Number of states where union membership declined in 2007

Sources: AP; Mortgage Asset Research Institute; TIDES; AP; TNS Media Intelligence; BBC; EADS Astrium; Qantas; U.S. Dept. of Labor