500 million

A low estimate for the number of people using Facebook’s Messenger app. With the reveal of mobile payments on Messenger earlier this week, Facebook’s plans for the app are becoming clearer. TechCrunch reported Messenger will become a platform for third-party developers, who will add more content and commerce. The company is expected to build on the success of its WhatsApp acquisition, and model Messenger after Asia’s extremely popular messaging apps like WeChat and Line.

One in four

The whiter a census tract is, except in extreme cases, the more likely it is to have a Starbucks, according to an analysis by Quartz. For example, one in four tracts with 70 percent white residents has a ‘Bucks. Something to keep in mind if you see “#RaceTogether” on your cup one morning.

$1.9 billion

Last year’s revenue across all streaming music services like Spotify, Pandora and Vevo, according to a new report from the RIAA. Streaming is on track to overtake digital downloads, which had already taken a bite out of recording industry revenue in the past decade. All this disruption added up to a flat year for the recording industry.

3 percent

Fewer than 3 percent of construction workers are women. And as employers report job shortages of skilled workers in fields like welding and carpentry, some are calling for women to go after employment in these professions. 

40 percent

That’s the percentage of freight carried by the U.S. railway system across the country. It’s why this unusually profitable venture has been studied by the global market.