Monday, Nov. 25, 2002

Numbers

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Heather Won Tesoriero and Rebecca Winters

24 Number of states, so far, that expect a budget deficit for the current fiscal year

$15 billion California's projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year, up from $6 billion this year

$887 Average amount Americans say they plan to spend on gifts this holiday season

32% Percentage of adults who say they have given as a gift an item they had received from someone else

64% Percentage of Mass-attending Roman Catholics who say the bishops have done a bad job of handling the church's sexual misconduct crisis

19% Percentage of those Catholics who say they have stopped donating money to their diocese--though not necessarily to their parish

$650 New daily pay for Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas

$350 Old rate for Elvis impersonators--the same as showgirls--before their recently negotiated raise

Sources: Reuters, San Jose Mercury News, Taubman Centers, American Express, Gallup, Variety