Percentage of salaried employees who used all of their allotted vacation time for 2016, according to an Ipsos poll: 53
Percentage of hourly employees who used theirs by the end of 2016: 36
Percentage of both salaried and hourly employees who plan to roll over what's left of their allotted vacation time: 25
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Ranks of Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Serena Williams and LeBron James on the list of the top five most marketable athletes in the United States in 2016 based on Nielsen's N-Score, awareness and likability, according to Nielsen research: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Source: Nielsen Media Research.
Estimated amount of money U.S. retailers lost to fraud in 2014 -- a 39 percent increase over the $23 billion in fraud losses the prior year, according to Business Insider: $32 billion
Percentage of losses that international merchants with e-commerce channels attributed to friendly fraud: 30
Percentage attributed to lost or stolen merchandise: 30
Percentage to identity theft: 22
Percentage to fraudulent requests for return/refund: 17
Source: Business Insider.
Percentage of U.S. consumers who believe pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies put patients over profits, according to a Harris Poll study: 9
Percentage who believe health insurance companies do: 16
Percentage of U.S. adults who believe health care providers (such as doctors and nurses) put patients over profits: 36
Percentage who believe hospitals put patients over profits: 23
Source: The Harris Poll.
Amount of money contributed to or collected for charity by convenience stores over the past year, according to a national survey of retailers by the National Association of Convenience Stores: $990 million
Percentage of convenience store companies responding to the survey that say they donate to charities: 97
Percentage of all convenience retailers who say they support five or more charities in their communities: 64
Source: National Association of Convenience Stores.
Percentage of parents who have given their kids a reward for completing their chores, according to a survey by Toluna: 48
Percentage who have given their kids a reward for completing their homework: 40
Percentage of parents who have given their kids electronics to keep them quiet: 37
Percentage who have bribed their kids to get them to do something: 36
Source: Toluna QuickSurveys.
Projected annual percentage fall in the U.S. demand for tobacco products to 2020, according to research released by Freedonia Focus Reports: 1.3
Percentage share of U.S. adults who smoked cigarettes in 2015 (down from 21 percent in 2005): 15
Source: Freedonia Group (The).
Average American per capita income, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: $28,500
Average household median income: $53,500
Average family household median income: $68,000
Estimated number of personal financial advisers in the U.S.: 198,000
Source: Census Bureau.
Percentage of Americans who think they'll die in debt, according to a survey of U.S. adults from CreditCards.com: 12
Percentage who said that in 2015: 21
Percentage of people age 65 and up who say they'll never get out of debt: 28
Source: creditcards.com.
Percentage of U.S. broadband households that have Wi-Fi access, according to research from Parks Associates: 71
Percentage more computing devices these Wi-Fi households have than non-Wi-Fi households: 30
Source: Parks Associates.
Idle Thought
"It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody." -- Maya Angelou
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)