2.36: The heat-stress death rate, per 100,000, for North Carolina workers, the highest rate in the country. Florida posts the next-highest rate of 0.74.

$114,056: The salary that Patsy Christian, who resigned as director of a new state mental hospital in the face of problems, will draw in a new state position created for her.

24: The number of Americans who have died from recent storms and floods in six states.

36,000: The number of Iowans evacuated from their homes in the face of flooding; 16 percent of the state's farmland was under water.

51 million: The number of Americans with some kind of disability; nearly two-thirds report severe impairment.

23.52: The increase in the number of foreclosure filings in North Carolina from May 2007 to May 2008.

3: The percentage of stay-at-home parents in the United States who are men.

10: The percentage that employer health-care costs are expected to rise in 2008.

532: The number of Iraqi civilians and security troopers killed in May. That's down sharply from the 1,080 who died in April.

$83.1 million: The amount of pay that John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co., left, received in 2007.

$7.6 billion: The amount of money that U.S. convenience stores paid in credit-card fees last year. Store owners are seeking fee relief as gas prices continue to rise.