North American Community Hub Statistics
The Iranian Rial is the weakest currency in the world in 2026 when currencies are ranked by the number of local units needed to buy one US dollar. On October 7, one dollar cost about 2.69 million rials on Iran’s open market. Lebanon is a distant second at 89,500 pounds per dollar. Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, … Read more
US employers added only 29,000 jobs in September 2026, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report released on October 2. Hiring was much weaker than the revised 133,000 gain in August and below the average monthly increase of 45,000 over the previous 12 months. The unemployment rate was 4.2%. It had been 4.1% … Read more
Massachusetts ranks first for healthcare quality in the latest full US state health system scorecard, followed by Hawaii, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. Mississippi ranks last, with Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and West Virginia also occupying the bottom five positions. For this comparison, we use the latest Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on Health System … Read more
Florida has now recorded 252 locally acquired dengue cases in 2026, pushing the state past its previous recent record and turning the Tampa Bay area into the center of the largest dengue outbreak seen in the continental United States in decades. The number that changes the story is not the statewide total alone. Florida has … Read more
About 51 million Americans work from home at least occasionally, according to new federal data released on September 24, 2026. That represents 33.6% of employees covered by the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, or roughly one in three. The number includes people with fully remote jobs as well as employees who spend only part … Read more
Calls for truck drivers to park their rigs on October 1 are spreading across the United States as diesel prices remain above $6 per gallon and small trucking businesses struggle with sharply higher fuel costs. Some independent drivers say they plan to stop hauling freight Thursday, but there is an important distinction for anyone following … Read more
Mortgage rates are back above 7%, and buyers are feeling the difference immediately. Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.03% on September 24, 2026, up from 6.95% one week earlier. In late February, the same rate had fallen to 5.98%. That swing changes a monthly payment even when the home … Read more