Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Data Feed: Pope’s first year, SAT trends, women in parliament

A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.

Politics Why Republicans should be worried about 2016, The Washington Post Secretary of State John Kerry’s favorability rising in U.S., Gallup Obama’s approval hits new low, topline, Fox News Republicans resistant to Christie for 2016 bid, Washington Post/ABC News More say Christie would not make good president, Fox News Cuomo tops GOP opponents, but N.Y. voters worried about economy, NBC/WSJ/Marist 61% of Conn. voters support physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill, Quinnipiac Most Americans say abortion should be legal at least sometimes, CNN/ORC International

Economy Unusually cold weather hampered economic growth nationwide, Federal Reserve via WSJ Do rising pickup sales signal good news for the housing market? The Washington Post Which occupations are most widespread across industries?, Bureau of Labor Statistics Interactive: Science and engineering workers in the labor force, Nat’l Science Foundation Payroll/population ratio up in February, but still below 2013, 2012 averages, Gallup Where have all the mortgages gone? Urban Institute

Health & Society U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis as a change for the better, Pew Research Center Francis brings renewed visibility to papacy, Pew Research Center ACT, not SAT, now most-taken U.S. college entrance exam, The Washington Post Charts: SAT scores by family income, ethnicity, parental education, The Washington Post Cost, financial aid increasingly influence students’ choice of college, Chronicle of Higher Ed. Poor and Hispanic workers are least likely to have sick days, The Atlantic Half of broadcast TV viewers are 54 and older, The Atlantic More than 38% respondents reported favorable ratings for ACA, RAND Corporation Fewer Americans reported healthy eating in 2013, Gallup

International Many Africans willing to pay taxes but say collectors are corrupt, Afrobarometer Chart: Which countries have the most women in parliament? World Bank blog A third of European women have experienced sexual and/or physical abuse, EU Interactive roundup of economic and fiscal conditions in EU, The Economist Latin America’s progress in reducing poverty is starting to slow, The Economist Economic survey of Norway, OECD

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