Numbers in the news.

• Position: Brief article

16% PERCENTAGE INCREASE in U.S. movie attendance this year--the biggest rise in two decades. Some experts attribute the box-office surge to a need for escapism in a recession.

SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

2,680 NUMBER OF RECORD stores that have closed nationwide since 2005, reflecting a steady decline in CD sates.

SOURCE: NIELSEN SOUND SCAN

2 AVERAGE NUMBER OF years after the beginning of a severe economic downturn that economic growth resumes.

SOURCE: HARPER'S

1,012 NUMBER OF GIRLS who played on high school. baseball, teams in the U.S. in 2008. [See p. 16]

SOURCE: NATIONAL FEDERATION OF...