No Hyphen with Percentages as Direct Adjectives
The Hyphen
Rulebase Summary
Do not hyphenate percentages when they are used as direct adjectives before a noun. The number and the word 'percent' are already considered to be a unit and do not need a hyphen to tie them together.
BGGP Hyphen.34 · p.283
Examples
✗
A. There was a 44-percent increase in costs.
✓
A. There was a 44 percent increase in costs.
Percentages are already a unit — no hyphen needed.
✗
A. They announced a 50-percent cut in staff.
✓
A. They announced a 50 percent cut in staff.
Do not hyphenate percentage as direct adjective.
Style Guide References (1)
BGGP
Hyphen.34
Page 283