Percentage of Americans who believe in God, according to a Harris poll: 82
Percentage who said they believe in a heaven: 75
Percentage who said there is a devil: 60
Percentage who said there is a place called hell: 61
Source: The Harris Poll.
Amount consumers are expected to spend this holiday season, despite near-record credit card debt levels, according to WalletHub: $1.1 trillion
Number of people who will have holiday debt into February: 55 million
Source: WalletHub.
In 2018, percentage increase in the price index of the gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas," according to economic analysis by PNC Wealth Management: 1.2
According to this year's survey, current price tag for these gifts: $39,094.93
Cost to a very thoughtful true love to buy the whole shebang -- from a single partridge to 12 drummers drumming for each verse (that's 364 separate pieces of Christmas joy): $170,609
Cost of nine ladies dancing: $7,552.84
Cost of 10 lords a-leaping: $10,000
Source: PNC Wealth Management.
Number of real Christmas trees that were purchased in 2017, according to the National Christmas Tree Association: 27.4 million
Average price paid: $75
Source: National Christmas Tree Association.
Percentage of employers who plan to give gifts to workers, according to the Advertising Specialty Institute: 42
Percentage of companies who anticipate that they will provide gifts to prospective and existing clients: 37
Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.
Percentage of student loan borrowers who would rather receive a student loan payment instead of a gift this holiday season, according to a survey by Ameritech Financial: 70
Percentage of student loan borrowers who are planning to skip a payment to help cover their holiday spending: 40
Source: Ameritech Financial.
Date that Radio City Music Hall opened with a troupe known as the Roxyettes, according to Radio City Music Hall data: Dec. 27, 1932
Year they officially they became the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes: 1934
Since the Christmas Spectacular's opening night, number of women who have shared in the legacy by performing as a Rockette: 3,000 plus
Number of people who have seen the Christmas Spectacular since the New York holiday tradition officially began: 75 million plus
Source: Radio City Music Hall.
Amount of the recent Mega Millions record jackpot (won by a single ticket purchased in South Carolina), according to Ipsos research: $1.537 billion
Percentage of people who bought tickets for the jackpot who say they didn't start playing until the jackpot reached at least $1 billion: 30
Percentage of these who say they didn't buy until the jackpot reached its peak of $1.6B (the highest advertised amount): 50
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of women who are willing to shop around for deals and use coupons (compared to 53 percent of men), according to a survey by Bankrate.com: 62
Source: Bankrate Inc.
Percentage of the top retailers who said they've seen an increase in employee turnover since the beginning of 2018, according to a survey conducted by Korn Ferry: 29
Of all retail positions, rank of part-time hourly store employees on the list of workers with the highest turnover rate: 1
Percentage of respondents who say that in 2018 they gave wage hikes to existing employees to put their salaries on par with increased starting wages: 34
Source: Korn Ferry International.
Idle Thought
"Patience is also a form of action." -- Auguste Rodin, sculptor
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)