Plus data on the holiday spending trends, border crossings, and more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Where do inventors come from?

Growing up in which state gives kids the best shot at becoming an inventor? Of the 7,473 people answered last week’s newsletter poll, 26% guessed correctly: Minnesota. Why not celebrate with a can of Spam, which was invented in — where else — Minnesota.

People (per 1,000) raised in each state who went on to file a patent

In a 2017 Opportunity Insights study that looked at people born between 1980 and 1984 (aka elder millennials), one of the strongest predictors of becoming an inventor is growing up near inventors. And Minnesota is home to many more inventions than Spam, including the implantable pacemaker, Scotch Tape, Nerf balls, prosthetic heart valves, and microwave popcorn.
Kids born to inventor parents were about nine times more likely to become an inventor than other children were.
Men were, on average, 4.5 times more likely to become inventors than women. But the gap narrowed when girls grew up around female inventors.
Inventing tended to skew towards the affluent. Kids from the top 1% of household income were six times more likely to become inventors than kids from middle-income families.

See the data

Unwrapping holiday spending trends

Your bank account might already know this, but we’re in the throes of the winter holiday season. According to the Census Bureau’s Monthly Retail Trade Report, spending is up: retail spending in December 2024 was the highest ever recorded (after, of course, adjusting for inflation). Let’s unwrap those numbers.

In December 2024, retail spending was over $600 billion (around $1,766 per person), up from the estimated $541.87 billion spent in November 2024.
Even though overall spending has increased, December’s share of annual retail spending has dipped: December 2024 retail accounted for 9.8% of all 2024 retail spending, compared to 10.3% in 2014 and 10.8% in 2004.

December retail food sales as a percentage of total retail

Americans spend around 19% more in December than the second-highest month of spending: November.
February is usually the lowest-sales month of the year, and sales increase incrementally from September to November. However, sales increased 18.5% from November to December.

See the data

Data behind the news

Washington state’s governor made an emergency declaration in response to storms and severe flooding last week. See how many disasters are declared in the US and your state.

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.

Last week, health officials in South Carolina confirmed 27 new measles cases in an outbreak. Over 100 cases have been reported in the state in recent months. Cities along the Arizona-Utah border have recently reported more than 200 confirmed cases. Here’s the latest data on measles cases in the US.

Get ready: It’s time for the weekly fact quiz.

One last fact

There were 84.4% fewer attempted border crossings in September 2025 than the year before

US Border Patrol detected about 8,400 attempted crossings in September 2025, 84.4% fewer than in September the year prior.

These attempted crossings, sometimes called “encounters,” are instances in which the Border Patrol apprehended or expelled someone attempting to illegally enter the US between official entry ports. This number does not represent individual people, as someone may be counted multiple times if they try to cross the border several times.

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