Legalized gambling is available on several riverboat casinos operated by a city in Mississippi. The mayor of the city wants to know the correlation between the number of casino employees and the yearly crime rate. The records for the past 10 years are examined, and the results listed in Table 11.3 are obtained. Calculate the coefficient of correlation, r, for the data. Interpret the result. LO9 

Table 11.3 Data on Casino Employees and Crime Rate, Example 11.5 Year Number x of Casino Employees (thousands)

Crime Rate y (number of crimes per 1,000 population)

2006 15 1.35 2007 18 1.63 2008 24 2.33 2009 22 2.41 2010 25 2.63 2011 29 2.93 2012 30 3.41 2013 32 3.26 2014 35 3.63 2015 38 4.15