42: Percentage of Americans who said they believe things will get a little better in regard to race relations in the United States now that Barack Obama has been elected President, according to a Nov. 7 Gallup poll. Seventeen percent said they thought it wouldn’t change, and 28 percent said they thought it would get a lot better.

74: Percentage of Americans surveyed in a Nov. 4 poll from Gallup that said this election mattered more than previous years. In 2000, 47 percent said that year’s election mattered more.

240,000: Number of jobs cut in the United States in October, according to The Associated Press. The unemployment rate increased to 6.5 percent, a number that hasn’t been seen in 14 years. In June 2003, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent.

364: Number of electoral votes president-elect Barack Obama received in the 2008 Presidential Election, according to MSNBC on Nov. 7. Sen. John McCain received 173. A minimum of 270 electoral votes was needed to win.