Estimated number of "stay-at-home" dads across America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 147,000
Percentage of fathers with employed wives who are the primary caregiver for their preschooler: 20
Percentage of dads with full-time jobs who regularly worked evening or night shifts and were the primary source of care for their preschoolers during their children's mother's working hours: 32
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Number of months that The New York Times reports consumers are holding onto new cars, up 4.5 months from a year ago and up 14 percent since the end of 2008: 63.9
When you add used cars, average length of ownership, according to the American Automobile Association: 52.2 months
Number of driving miles logged by Americans in 2010, the most vehicle miles traveled since 2007, according to Consumer Reports: 3 trillion
Source: AutoMD.com.
Percentage of human resources managers who said it's at least somewhat common for their company to award promotions without pay increases, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 22
Percentage of workers who said they would be willing to accept a promotion that doesn't include a raise: 55
Source: OfficeTeam.
Percentage of executives who said employees who socialize outside of the office enjoy more productive working relationships, according to a survey by The Creative Group: 64
Percentage who disagreed: 19
Source: The Creative Group.
Percentage increase in sales of organic fruits and vegetables over 2009, which represents 39.7 percent of total organic food value, and nearly 12 percent of all U.S. fruit and vegetable sales, according to findings from the 2011 Organic Industry Survey: 11.8
Percentage increase in organic dairy, the second-largest category, achieving a value of $3.9 billion, and capturing nearly 6 percent of the total U.S. market for dairy products: 9
Source: Organic Trade Association.
Percentage of Americans who attribute the series of public sex scandals in recent years involving politicians more to the heightened scrutiny they face than to lower moral standards among elected officials, according to a national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and The Washington Post: 57
Percentage who say elected officials have lower moral standards than ordinary Americans: 19
Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Ranks of audiologist, dietitian and software engineer on the list of the nation's least stressful professions, according to the CareerCast.com 2011 report on the least and most stressful jobs: 1, 2, 3
Ranks of commercial airline pilot, public relations executive and corporate executive on the list of the nation's most stressful professions: 1, 2, 3
Source: CareerCast.com.
Percentage of daily deal buyers who never redeem the daily deal vouchers they've already paid for, according to Utpal Dholakia, associate professor of management at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business in his third study done to date on the daily deals industry: 21.7
Percentage of businesses that reported making money: 55.5
Percentage that lost money: 26.6
Source: Rice University.
Percentage of U.S. small businesses that have done a security audit review in the past six months, according to a survey by Shred-it: 24
Percentage of companies that have no protocol in place for storing and disposing of confidential data: 35.5
Source: Shred-it.
Percentage of smartphone owners who are interested in being notified directly by their carrier with suggestions for cellphone plan upgrades, discounts and special offers, according to the findings released by Upstream: 70
Percentage of cellphone users who prefer two or fewer notices from their carriers each month: 74
Source: Upstream.
Idle Thought
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -- Henry David Thoreau
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)