Percentage of women who cite "financial strain" as a major threat to the American family, according to findings of a nationwide survey by Meredith Corp. and NBC Universal: 68
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Percentage who also cite "divorce" as a major threat: 48
Percentage who also cite "loss of faith/spirituality": 47
Source: Meredith Corp.
Percentage of employment screenings in 2007 that turned up criminal record convictions, or "hits," according to a study conducted by Kroll: 9.5
Ranks of construction, automotive and retail among the industries with the highest criminal record hit ratios in 2007: 1, 2, 3
Source: Kroll.
Percentage of Americans who say the dream to own a home is still attainable for most citizens, according to a survey conducted by Zogby International: 51
Percentage of Americans who say they spend more than 30 percent of their household budget on housing — which according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), indicates that they are "cost burdened": 43
Source: Zogby International.
Percentage of Americans who said they don't feel like they have the free time in the evenings that they had five years ago, according to a survey conducted by StrategyOne for Listerine Antiseptic: 55
Percentage who agree that Americans are working longer days than ever before: 80
Source: Edelman.
Annual cost of global piracy to the U.S. economy, according to "The True Cost of Copyright Industry Piracy to the U.S. Economy" study conducted for the Institute for Policy Innovation: $58 billion
Estimated cost in jobs lost: 375,000
Cost in lost annual earnings: $16.3 billion
Cost in lost tax revenue: $2.6 billion
Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Percentage of employees who feel more relaxed than stressed when they are connected to work by a wireless device, according to Yahoo! HotJobs' annual virtual workplace survey: 37
Percentage who are altogether indifferent to their wireless device, feeling neither relaxed nor stressed by it: 42
Source: Yahoo! HotJobs.
Percentage of employees who say they left their jobs to seek new challenges or opportunities that were lacking with their previous employers, according to a study by Buchanan Public Relations: 30
Percentage of respondents who reported leaving employers because of ineffective leadership: 25
Percentage who cited poor relationships with their managers: 22
Source: Buchanan Public Relations.
Percentage of all U.S. non-farm jobs that are in the U.S. travel economy, according to Travel Industry Association of America data: 12.5
Number of jobs this represents: 7.5 million
Percentage of the U.S. total gross domestic product that is attributable to the travel industry: 3
Source: Travel Industry Association of America.
Average net worth of a major league baseball (MLB) team in 2008, according to a study conducted by Forbes: $472 million
Net worth of the New York Yankees, the most valuable MLB team: $1.3 billion
Ranks of the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the next most valuable teams: 2, 3, 4
Source: Forbes.
Estimated value of all U.S. consumer spending for Mother's Day in 2008, according to a study conducted by the National Retail Federation and BIGresearch: $15.8 billion
Percentage of consumers celebrating Mother's Day who say they will purchase one major gift for their mother rather than several smaller gifts: 84.2
Ranks of special dinner or brunch, jewelry, gift cards/gift certificates, flowers, and clothing and accessories among the most popular Mother's Day gifts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Source: BIGresearch.
Idle Thought
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -- Abraham Lincoln
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)
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