Percentage of Americans who now consider owning a car is a necessity, according to a Pew Research survey: 91

Percentage who say a clothes washer is a necessity: 90

Ranks of a clothes dryer (83 percent), home air conditioning (70 percent), microwave (68 percent) and TV set (64 percent) on the list of amenities that Americans consider as necessary: 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of professionals who say they very or somewhat frequently go to work when they feel sick, according to a survey developed by OfficeTeam: 75

When executives were asked how often they think employees come to work when they feel sick, percentage who said very frequently: 17

Source: OfficeTeam.

Estimated number of mothers in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 82.5 million

Percentage of American consumers who take part in some way in Mother's Day, according to Hallmark: 96

Rank of Mother's Day as the peak day of the year for long-distance telephone calls: 1

Source: about.com.

Percentage of doctors in the U.S. who would choose a different profession if they could start over today, according to the National Physicians' Study conducted by HCD Research: 30

Ranks of negotiated rates and malpractice suits on the list of the reasons cited by doctors for wanting to switch professions: 1, 2

Source: HCD Research Inc.

Percentage of college students who left school with more than $5,000 in credit card debt, according to a survey commissioned by TrueCredit.com: 24

Percentage of respondents who indicated they owed more than $10,000 for purchases made with credit cards: 10

Source: TrueCredit.com.

Number of businesses in the U.S. that consist of only the owner with no additional employees, according to a study by FindLaw.com: 20 million

Source: FindLaw.com.

Percentage of Americans who may be missing out on credits and deductions due to their lack of familiarity with the tax system and tax law changes, according to a new study conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of H&R Block: 50

Percentage of those with college degrees who wrongly think it is possible to claim deductions or credits that were missed on previous tax returns: 45

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Number of households that represent the wealthiest 10 percent of all U.S. households, as determined by the Federal Reserve Board, according to a study by the American Affluence Research Center: 11.2 million

Percentage of luxury consumers who report they have reduced overall expenditures during the past 12 months and/or will do so during the next 12 months: 81

Percentage decline in home remodeling plans from what they were one year ago: 50

Source: American Affluence Research Center.

Percentage of Americans who view plunging housing prices combined with historically low interest rates who believe that now is a "good time" to buy a house — up 18 percentage points from a year ago and the highest level of housing-purchase optimism in four years, according to a Gallup Poll: 71

Percentage drop in housing prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas in January 2009 compared to a year ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index: 19

Source: Gallup.

Despite it being one of the most challenging hiring environments in the nation's history, percentage of workers laid off from full-time jobs in the last three months who reported they found a new full-time, permanent position, according to a survey from CareerBuilder: 41

Percentage who found part-time work: 8

Of those workers who were laid off in the last 12 months, percentage who received a severance package from their employers: 32

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Idle Thought

"A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule." -- Michael Pollan, author

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

Percentage of travelers who, unfortunately, have endured loud snoring from their seatmates on flights, according to a TripAdvisor flyer survey: 44

Percentage who have experienced obvious intoxication: 25

Percentage who have experienced excessive flatulence: 19

Percentage who have experienced couples who cannot keep their hands off one another: 11

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of companies that have frozen salaries, up from 21 percent in December, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt: 55

Percentage of respondents who plan to decrease this year's bonus pool by an average of about 40 percent: 48

Percentage who have added a "clawback" (or monetary recoupment) policy: 23

Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

As G-20 leaders met in London, percentage of people in the 24 countries polled who think "major changes" are required to the way the global economy is run, according to a global poll of people carried out for BBC World Service GlobeScan: 70

When asked whether the downturn in the global economy has negatively affected them and their family, percentage who said it had affected them at least "a fair amount": 62

Source: PIPA/WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Percentage of small business that at one point have had to search for an old or deleted e-mail for compliance purposes, according to a survey carried out by eMediaUSA on behalf of GFI Software: 47

Percentage that say it typically takes less than an hour to find an e-mail from 15 months ago or longer: 29

Percentage that do not feel they are sufficiently informed about compliance and e-mail archiving issues: 40

Source: GFI Software.

Ranks of taking on more projects/responsibility and working more hours as the leading concessions employees are willing to accept to keep their jobs, according to a Q1 Glassdoor.com Employee Confidence Survey of employed adults: 1, 2

Percentage who are willing to take unpaid leave: 34 (Up from 24 percent in December 2008.)

Source: Glassdoor.com.

Percentage of Americans who said they expected a tax refund this year, according to a survey by Econ4U: 83

Percentage who were planning on spending the refund: 31

Percentage who said they would use it to pay off existing credit card debt: 18

Source: Econ4U.

Percentage of American drivers who complained of an inability to focus while driving at night, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation: 18

Number of times higher the fatality rate at nighttime (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) is than the daytime rate: 3

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of Americans who have gone without medical or prescription drug care in the past year, due to the cost, according to a survey by Zogby: 16

Percentage of those Americans with less than $25,000 in household income who admit to doing without medical care: 34

Percentage of those from households with more than $100,000 in income who say the same: 10

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of Americans who chose Great Britain as America's greatest ally, according to a Gallup Poll: 36

Percentage who chose Canada: 29

Percentage who said Japan: 12

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of network video downloaders who favor watching ads in exchange for free video, according to the findings from Knowledge Networks: 80 (Up from 67 percent in 2006.)

Percentage of all Internet users who say they streamed TV network video -- from clips to full episodes -- during the three-month study period: 37

Source: Knowledge Networks.

Idle Thought

"The artist brings something into the world that didn't exist before, and he does it without destroying something else." -- John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

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

Percentage of U.S. companies that viewed their middle managers as unqualified to be promoted to the next level, according to a survey by ClearRock, an outplacement and executive coaching firm: 33

Percentage that rated their middle managers as "very qualified": 6

Source: ClearRock.

Percentage of all U.S. births in 2007 that were out-of-wedlock births, according to newly released preliminary data from the National Center for Health Statistics: 40

In a Pew Research survey, percentage of Americans who said that more single women having children is a bad thing for society: 66

Percentage who said that more unmarried couples having children is a bad thing for society: 59

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Ranks of promotion, cash, paid time off, boss shares achievement with senior management, and in-person "thank you's" on the list of the recognition valued most by managers, according to a study developed by OfficeTeam and the International Association of Administrative Professionals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of in-person "thank you's," boss shares achievement with senior management, promotion, membership in a professional association, and registration for a conference or seminar on the list of the recognition valued most by administrative professionals: 1 (tie), 3, 4, 5

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of travelers who plan to use shared-ride shuttle services to get to the airport as a way to make budget cuts for this year's vacation, according to a survey conducted by GO Group: 53

Percentage who plan to book through discount travel Web sites: 46

Percentage who will stop checking luggage to avoid fees now imposed by the airlines: 24

Source: GO Group LLC.

Number of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in 2008 -- up 3 percent over 2007, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons: 12.1 million

Amount spent on cosmetic procedures in the U.S. in 2008: $10.3 billion

Source: American Society of Plastic Surgery.

Percentage of Americans who believe that the U.S. is either completely or somewhat responsible for the international financial crisis, according to a study conducted by HCD Research: 90

Source: HCD Research Inc.

Percentage of adult Americans who smoke, according to a poll conducted as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index: 21

Percentage of today's smokers who earn less than $36,000 per year: 53

Source: Gallup.

Amount of money sent back to developing countries by migrants in the form of remittances in 2008, higher than the amount provided through foreign aid or foreign direct investment, according to World Bank figures: $283 billion

Source: FAO.

Percentage of U.S. households that take part in lawn and garden activities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 75

Percentage that grow flowers and plan their own landscaping: 33

Percentage that have vegetable gardens: 20

Percentage that grow their own herbs: 10

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of finance professionals who said that the Securities and Exchange Commission should soon establish a specific date that International Financial Reporting Standards would be required for U.S. public companies: 62

Percentage of respondents who support the movement toward a single set of high-quality global accounting standards: 75

Source: Deloitte LLP.

Idle Thought

"There is as much difference between us and ourselves as between us and others." -- Michel de Montaigne, essayist

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