Riley needs to earn enough money to purchase a new jacket. The one he likes best is $49.99. His state sales tax is 7.25%. How much money does he need to earn?

Riley needs to earn $49.99 for the jacket.

The sales tax is 7.25% of the price of the jacket, so the tax amount is 0.0725 * $49.99 = $<<0.0725*49.99=3.624275>>3.62.

Therefore, Riley needs to earn $49.99 + $3.62 = $<<49.99+3.62=53.61>>53.61 to purchase the new jacket. Answer: \boxed{53.61}.

To calculate the total amount of money Riley needs to earn, we need to consider the sales tax as well.

Step 1: Calculate the amount of sales tax on the jacket.
The jacket costs $49.99, and the sales tax rate is 7.25%.
Sales tax amount = $49.99 * 7.25% = $3.62 (rounded to two decimal places)

Step 2: Calculate the total cost of the jacket including sales tax.
Total cost of the jacket = $49.99 + $3.62 = $53.61

Therefore, Riley needs to earn at least $53.61 to purchase the new jacket.

To calculate how much money Riley needs to earn, we'll need to apply the state sales tax to the price of the jacket and then add the tax to the jacket's price.

Step 1: Calculate the sales tax amount.
Multiply the price of the jacket by the state sales tax rate in decimal form.
Sales tax = $49.99 * 0.0725
Sales tax ≈ $3.62

Step 2: Add the sales tax amount to the price of the jacket to get the total amount.
Total amount = $49.99 + $3.62
Total amount ≈ $53.61

Therefore, Riley needs to earn approximately $53.61 to purchase the new jacket.