By The Numbers

#I’mRunningForPresident

Tony Wagner Mar 24, 2015
11 months

This month, China’s factory sector saw its lowest number in 11 months. As Reuters reports, it could be a sign that China’s economy, the second largest in the world, is slowing.

11

That’s how many GOP presidential contenders count Ted Cruz as one of their Twitter followers. Cruz became the first major candidate to officially enter the race Monday, and he’s keeping tabs on other hopefuls including Scott Walker, Rick Perry and Chris Christie. Jeb Bush and Bobby Jindal don’t make the cut, and Christie doesn’t follow back. Bloomberg has a fun interactive graphic of all the potential candidates’ Twitter info, including the only GOP contender who follows Barack Obama.

$5 billion

That’s the worth of the U.S. spice industry, which is primarily dominated by McCormick & Company. It’s a good time to be in the spice business – with more families choosing to cook at home instead of eating out, there’s an increased interest in spicing up those home-cooked meals. But with the rise of smaller brands, as well as stores producing their own products, companies like McCormick & Company are trying to make their way out of the center of the grocery store and into the produce and protein sections where health-conscious consumers are shopping.

12 hours

The maximum amount of time a cruise ship crew has to clear out all passengers, clean, restock and otherwise turn over what is essentially a small floating city before setting off again. It’s a hectic process that runs on astounding efficiency and gets more complicated as the industry builds larger and larger vessels. The New York Times profiles “turnaround day” for  one 6,000-passenger ship.

3 years

That’s how long you could potentially go to prison for sending an email that “causes annoyance.” Section 66A, a law in India, outlines severe punishment for online activity such as commenting on social networks. As the BBC reports, the Supreme Court in India ruled to strike down the law on Tuesday, saying that it violated people’s constitutional right to free speech.

84 percent

The median cell phone ownership in 32 emerging and developing countries, according to a new Pew Research report. Internet access is not nearly as widespread, the survey found, still concentrated in the young and educated in richer countries.

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