Percentage of Americans who say government economic policies since the Great Recession have helped large banks and financial institutions a great deal, according to a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll: 45
Percentage who say they have helped the wealthy a great deal: 36
Percentage who say they have helped small businesses a great deal: 7
Percentage who say they have helped the middle class a great deal: 5
Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Percentage of Americans who say they will be ready to retire at age 65 or sooner, according to a Gallup Poll for CBS: 46
Percentage of Americans who said they would be ready to retire at age 65 or sooner 10 years ago: 67
Percentage who say they will have to work until their 70s: 28
Source: Gallup Organization.
Value of global digital music revenue, matching physical sales for the first time, according to the IFPI Digital Music Report: $6.9 billion
Value of the subscription segment of the digital revenue -- 23 percent of digital's total: $1.6 billion
Source: IFPI Digital Music Report.
On a scale of 1 to 5, score given by employees on the importance of having quality coffee available in the workplace and its effect on their productivity, according to a survey by Packaged Facts: 3.9
Amount Packaged Facts estimates that trips offsite for coffee could translate into in lost work time annually per daily coffee-drinking employee: $1,563
Source: Packaged Facts.
Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country heated by wood in 2013, which is 2.1 percent of all homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 2.4 million
Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country totally heated by solar energy in 2013: 50,235
Estimated number heated by utility gas in 2013, which is 49.1 percent of all homes: 56.8 million
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Percentage of hiring managers who indicated that they have asked a question in a job interview only to find out later that it was illegal to ask, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 20
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
Likely percentage of 18- to 29-year-olds who have never had a credit card, according to Bankrate: 33
Average age at which Americans say people should get their first credit card: 22
Source: Bankrate.com.
Percentage of senior managers who think their company is effective in recognizing employees for good performance, according to a survey by Robert Half International: 89
Percentage of all workers who say their company isn't good at recognizing good workers: 30
Ranks of rewards, growth opportunities and praise as the most valued forms of recognition: 1, 2, 3
Source: Robert Half International.
Percentage of homeowners who plan to spend money on home improvements this year, according to an annual survey by LightStream: 57
Percentage who will spend more than $5,000: 35
Percentage who will spend more than $10,000: 18
Percentage who will pay for it with credit cards: 30
Source: LightStream.
Percentage of Americans who say they are familiar with the sharing economy, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers: 44
Percentage who have tried the sharing economy firsthand: 19
Percentage who believe the sharing economy makes life more affordable: 86
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Idle Thought
"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind." -- Charles Darwin
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)