Percentage of Americans who had problems with one or more spellings in a test of 10 everyday words, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Spelling Society: 50-plus

Percentage of respondents who had initially believed that they had a problem spelling: 25

Percentage who admitted being reliant on spell-checkers for tasks such as completing job application forms or writing important letters: 33

Ranks of women and men when it comes to spelling: 1, 2 (The only word that men spelled better than women in the U.S. was "liaison.")

Source: Ipsos Mori.

Percentage of car buyers who said that their worst mistake when purchasing a car was overpaying for a new car that quickly depreciated in value, according to a survey of U.S. adults conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CarMax: 26

Percentage who said that their worst mistake was not doing enough research: 22

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of workers who revealed that they have dated a co-worker at some time during their careers, with 18 percent admitting to doing it twice or more, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey: 40

Percentage of male workers who currently work with someone they would like to date: 14

Percentage of women who said the same: 5

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Ranks of environmental services/clean technology, health care, life sciences/pharmaceuticals and energy on the list of industries recruiters expect will generate the greatest growth in executive-level job opportunities in 2009, according to a survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet): 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of business development, sales, operations management and finance on the list of functions expected to be in greatest demand during the year ahead: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: ExecuNet.

Percentage of affluent Americans (incomes of over $100,000) who say the economy is their greatest concern, according to an Ipsos Mendelsohn survey: 60

Percentage who cited unemployment and jobs: 30

Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn.

Percentage of alternative energy investors and analysts who expect alternative energy stocks to outperform the broader markets in 2009, according to a survey by global public relations agency Waggener Edstrom Worldwide: 50

Percentage who see the Obama administration as a "positive" or "very positive" performance catalyst: 82

Source: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Cost per compromised customer to U.S. companies of data breach incidents, according to the results of a U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study by PGP Corp. and the Ponemon Institute, which examined 43 organizations across 17 different industry sectors: $202

Since the study's inception in 2005, estimated growth per victim of this cost component (nearly a 40 percent increase): $64

Source: Ponemon Institute.

Percentage of Americans who say the biggest communication faux pas is when their loved ones expect them to always answer when they call, according to a survey commissioned by SpinVox conducted by Kelton Research: 28

Percentage who say it's when their honeys return their calls before listening to the voice mail they left: 27

Source: Kelton Research.

Percentage of baby boomers caring for an aging parent who say that it has put a strain on their marriage, according to a research study conducted by Caring.com: 80

Percentage of divorced baby boomers who said caregiving played a major role in their divorce: 25

Source: Caring.com.

Idle Thought

"This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of men and women who say a successful relationship with a significant other is more important than a successful career in order to achieve a happy life, according to a SnagAJob Valentine's Day survey: 75

Percentage of Americans who say that they have either sacrificed their own career for the benefit of a significant other's or would be willing to do so: 66

Source: SnagAJob.com.

When the International Association of Administrative Professionals asked its members what makes a good boss, the percentage who said that being a good communicator is essential in a manager: 37

When asked how a boss could foster better office communications, percentage who said that being clear when assigning tasks: 30

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Percentage of voters who said they believed in the American Dream immediately after the presidential election, according to Zogby interactive polls: 67

By the second week of January, percentage who said they believed in the American Dream: 56

Percentage who believe because America is the land of opportunity: 52

Source: Zogby International.

Estimated percentage increase in the U.S. market share of world international travel that it would take to add $15 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Travel Association: 1

As a result of the 1 percent increase, number of new jobs created: 153,000

Amount of new federal tax revenue included in the $15 billion: $1.3 billion

Source: U.S. Travel Association.

Ranks of Budweiser horse circus (interest score 77.02), Budweiser horse fetch (74.61), Coca-Cola nature (72.53), Bridgestone potato head (71.73) and Budweiser horse coming to America (71.48) on the list of top Super Bowl commercials, according to HCD Research and mediacurves.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: HCD Research Inc.

Percentage of U.S. households that are still unprepared for the switch to digital television, according to the Nielsen Co.: 5.8

Number of homes this represents: 5.1 million

Source: Nielsen -- NetRatings.

Percentage of alpha females -- defined as "articulate, outspoken super-consumers who have a lot to say about marketing, life and the universe" -- who agree that "making do with less across the board" is now more of a priority, according to results from the 2009 Ginger's Alpha Panel Survey: 62

Percentage of alpha females who plan to have fewer nice dinners out: 65

Though alphas still plan to shop, percentage who are now "buying on sale": 60

Source: Ginger.

Number of years that clothier Eton has been in business (started in the small village of Ganghester, Sweden), according to Katrin Tijburg, brand manager for North America: 81

Price of the world's most expensive shirt, the Eton Diamond Shirt, woven from the finest Egyptian cotton and detailed with natural-colored diamond studs and presented to celebrate the opening of Eton's flagship store in the Plaza Hotel in New York City: $40,000

Source: Eton.

Percentage of financial advisers and financial planners across the country who thought President Obama's $819 billion bailout plan was a bad idea, according to the results of the exclusive online InvestmentNews survey: 45.6

Percentage of advisers who do not have much confidence in Obama's ability to fix the economy: 36.4

Source: InvestmentNews.

Percentage of people in the United States who say the morality of U.S. foreign policy is superior: 24

Among Russians, percentage who say their morality is superior: 27

In China, percentage of respondents who say their foreign policy is morally superior: 38

Source: PIPA/WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Idle Thought

"Let us enrich ourselves with our mutual differences." -- Paul Valery, poet and philosopher

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of all Valentine's Day cards that are bought by women, according to an MSNBC report: 85

Percentage of flowers that are bought by men: 73

Source: MSNBC.com.

Rank of the motor coach industry on the list of commercial people movers in the United States, accounting for 751 million passenger trips in 2007, up nearly 20 percent from the previous figure of 631 million passenger trips in 2005, according to data released by the American Bus Association: 1

Percentage more passenger trips provided by the motor coach industry than commercial airlines (excluding foreign-flag air carriers): 9

Percentage more passenger trips provided by the motor coach industry than Amtrak and commuter rail combined: 67

Source: American Bus Association.

Estimated number of jobs that renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries currently provide, according to an American Solar Energy Society "Green-Collar Jobs" report and Management Information Services Inc.: 9 million

Projected number of jobs that can be generated by the renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries in the U.S. by 2030: 37 million

Percentage of all anticipated U.S. employment this represents: 17

Source: American Solar Energy Society.

Percentage of Wall Street professionals who received a year-end payout in 2008, according to a survey by eFinancialCareers, the leading career site for finance professionals: 79

When polled in October, percentage who expected a year-end bonus: 66

Source: eFinancialCareers.

Percentage shrinkage in the global institutional pension fund assets in the 11 largest pension markets -- consisting of the U.S., Japan, the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Ireland and Hong Kong -- during 2008, according to Watson Wyatt's global pension assets study: 19 (from $25 trillion to about $20 trillion)

Percentage of the average GDP this represents (down from 72 percent 10 years ago, which takes the measure back to levels last seen in 1996): 61

Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Percentage of Internet users who say they are very or fairly knowledgeable about how to protect their personal privacy online, according to a survey released by Consumer Policy Solutions: 70

Percentage who are unsure whether their online activity is tracked and recorded by companies for commercial purposes: 42

Percentage who believe that tracking by companies for commercial purposes does not happen at all: 12

Source: Consumer Policy Solutions.

Percentage of Americans who said they always (30 percent) or often (38 percent) pay attention to the in-flight safety presentation, according to a TripAdvisor survey conducted in light of the recent "Miracle on the Hudson": 68

Percentage of respondents who said they always check the locations of the exits on the plane: 73

Percentage of travelers who said they have read the seat-back instruction card in the past: 50

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of small-business owners who believe that 2009 will be as good or better than 2008, according to a survey commissioned by Microsoft Office Live Small Business and Elance: 60

Despite the economy, the percentage of business owners who state that they are happier running their own business than working for someone else: 86

Source: Microsoft.

Percentage of people who rely on online and mobile navigation tools to find their way around: 25

Despite huge advances in online maps and mobile navigation, percentage of people who admit to getting lost regularly: 93

Percentage of people who find it impossible to navigate around London, a larger percentage than anywhere else in the world, according to research commissioned by Nokia: 10

Source: Nokia.

Percentage of married adults who would prefer that their significant others make them a nice dinner at home instead of taking them out to eat on Valentine's Day, according to a survey by Whole Foods Market: 81

Percentage who also agree that Valentine's Day dinner at home prepared by a significant other is more personal, thoughtful and caring: 73

Percentage who also cite financial reasons, such as the current state of the economy and the increased expense of eating out: 50

Source: Whole Foods Market.

Idle Thought

"I am a part of all that I have met." -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)