A November 2023 survey of 800 U.S. employers by Intelligent.com found that nearly half of companies plan to eliminate college degree requirements. Forty-five percent of respondents said they plan to remove bachelor’s degree requirements next year, while 55% already took out those requirements this year. The results show that 4 in 5 companies value experience more than education when assessing job candidates, with two-thirds now using tests in the hiring process.

THE majority of small business owners in the U.S. (78%) are concerned about their ability to access capital, according to a November 2023 survey by Goldman Sachs. This number differs from April 2022, when 77% of small business owners were confident about credit. Nearly a third cited 2023 as their most challenging year since 2019. Just 29% of small business owners report that they can afford to take out a loan with current interest rates.

NEW Hampshire is last when it comes to people in financial distress, WalletHub found in a recent study. The company measured factors like residents’ average credit score and the change in bankruptcy filings between September 2022 and September 2023. The Granite State ranked 51st out of all U.S. states and Washington, D.C., in the average number of accounts in distress and the total number of residents with accounts in distress.

ACCORDING to the Pew Research Center, most Americans say they’re being asked to tip service workers more frequently than before. About 72% of 11,945 U.S. adults surveyed indicated that tipping is expected in more places today than five years ago, but only 34% knew whether to tip for different services and 33% knew how much to tip. Respondents said they’re most likely to tip when eating at a sit-down restaurant or getting a haircut, and least likely when buying a beverage at a coffee shop or eating at restaurants without servers.

A recent study from AgentAdvice.com ranked New Hampshire eighth in states spending the most money on home renovations. Granite Staters spend an average of $4,145 per year, and nationwide, the website found kitchen and bathroom renovations to be the most popular home improvement projects in the U.S.