Percentage of U.S. adults who say they worry "frequently" or "occasionally" about being a victim of identity theft, higher than reported anxiety about 11 other types of crime and the only crime that a majority worry about at least occasionally, according to a Gallup Poll: 66

Percentage of Americans who worry frequently or occasionally about having their cars stolen or broken into: 47

Percentage who worry about having their homes burglarized when they are not there: 46

Source: Gallup.

Percentage decrease in the number of hourly seasonal jobs this year as opposed to 2007, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll conducted on behalf of Snagajob.com: 45

Hourly wage that hiring managers expect to pay this year compared to $10 last year: $10.40

Percentage of their seasonal hires that managers will ask to stay on after the holiday season is over: 51

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of workers who reported that they don't pay attention to benefit changes, figuring the same benefits would roll over from the previous year or feeling that the whole process is too confusing, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 25

Percentage of hiring managers who estimate more than 10 percent of their employees miss annual open enrollment deadlines each year on average: 15

Percentage of human resource managers who said missing open enrollment costs employees, on average, at least $500 in out-of-pocket expenses: 34

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of employees who are considering changing jobs in the next 12 months, according to a Work Watch Survey conducted by Randstad: 12

Percentage of employees who expressed feeling envious of those who have left their organization: 12

Source: Randstad U.S.

For the first time in U.S. history, estimated record number of checks and electronic transactions for debit cards, credit cards and automatic payments by the end of 2009, according to Moebs Services: 100 billion

Percentage of these transactions that will be debit card transactions: 33

Percentage that will be paper checks: 24

Percentage that will be credit card transactions: 23

Percentage that will be ACH (automatic payments): 20

Percentage of all banks and credit unions that have income from overdraft fees that is greater than their net income: 44.5

Percentage of all financial institutions that allow consumers to overdraw their accounts at an ATM or with a debit card, charging a median of $26 for this service: 35

Source: Moebs Services.

Percentage of American males 15 and older who are currently married but not separated, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey cited by Pew Research: 55

Percentage of females 15 and older who are married, but not separated: 50

Nationally, the median age at first marriage for men: 28

Nationally, the median age at first marriage for women: 26

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

Being the first to publish pictures of a Turkish Airlines plane crash and to publish pictures of U.S. Airways Flight 1549's dramatic crash into the Hudson River earlier this year (putting Twitter on the leading edge of all news), percentage of all traffic on Twitter that goes to news sites, according to a breakdown of traffic by the online ad network Chitka: 28.49

Percentage that goes to movies: 22.56

Percentage that goes to tech: 13.39

Source: Chitka Inc.

Percentage of chief financial officers who expect improved business conditions in 2010, according to a poll conducted at Deloitte's CFO Vision 2009 conference: 57

Percentage of CFOs who said ending the recession should be the top public policy issue for the Obama administration: 43

Percentage who felt tax reform should be the top public policy issue: 19

Source: Deloitte.

Percentage of U.S. adults who report that at least one member of their immediate family lost health insurance coverage within the past year, according to a Zogby Interactive poll: 26

Percentage of those in households earning $35,000 and less who report having a family member lose health insurance coverage: 37

Source: Zogby International.

Idle Thought

"What you cannot enforce, do not command." -- Sophocles

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

Percentage of search firm consultants who believe age becomes a significant factor in a hiring decision when a candidate is over the age of 50, according to surveys conducted by ExecuNet: 91

Percentage who report that age is never a factor when candidates are evaluated for a new opportunity: 5

Percentage of business leaders (with an average age of 50) who believed their age was working against them in a job search: 41

Source: ExecuNet

Estimated amount of money collected by banks and credit unions in overdraft fees last year, according to a study by the Center for Responsible Lending: $24 billion

Percentage increase from just two years ago: 35

Source: Center for Responsible Lending.

Projected sales of costumes, scary makeup, wigs, Halloween decorations for inside and outside, and, of course, pumpkins and candy, for America's darkest holiday, (up 4.2 percent from the $5.77 billion generated last year), according to industry research firm IBISWorld: $6 billion

Amount the average person is estimated to spend on Halloween treats in 2009: $22.50

Source: IBISWorld

Percentage of workers who don't think their boss is honest, according to a survey by the Adecco Group: 53

Percentage of employees who even go so far as to say that they believe their boss is dishonest about their job security: 25

Percentage who would lay off/fire their boss if given the option: 28

Source: Adecco

Ranks of princess, witch and Spider-Man on the list of top costumes for kids this Halloween, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of pumpkin, devil and fancy collars on the list of top costumes for pets this year: 1, 2, 3

Source: National Retail Federation

Percentage of moms who feel lonely and unsupported in their day-to-day lives and turn online to form new friendships based on shared interests, life events and parenting support, according to research from Mom Central Consulting: 60

Percentage of moms who feel they lack enough friends in their lives: 80

Source: Mom Central Inc.

Percentage of administrative professionals who said that the level of autonomy in making decisions has increased in the last five years, according to a survey from the International Association of Administrative Professionals: 72

Percentage who have increased responsibility at work: 73

Percentage who have seen their overall contribution to their organization increase: 85

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals

Percentage of parents today who admit to using alcohol or other drugs to get drunk or high when they were teenagers, according to findings in the "Four Generations Overcoming Addiction" survey of teens and parents' attitudes toward parent-child communications about alcohol and drugs, commissioned by Minnesota-based addiction treatment center Hazelden: 50

Percentage of teens who say they've seen their parents high or drunk: 26

Source: Hazelden

Percentage of toilets in the U.S. that leak, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 25

Estimated number of gallons of water that one leaking toilet can waste in a year: 70,000

Each day in the U.S., estimated number of gallons of water that is used for all purposes, including generating electricity and irrigation: 400 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

With all the possible Halloween festivities, ranks of watching a scary movie (23 percent), costume parties (17 percent) and trick-or-treating (17 percent) on respondents' list of favorite Halloween activities, according to the Redbox "Halloween Thrillers" survey: 1, 2 (tie)

Ranks of "The Exorcist" (19 percent), "Halloween" (11 percent) and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (11 percent) on the list of the best horror movies of all-time: 1, 2 (tie)

Rank of Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lambs" on the list of the most frightening movie villains: 1

Source: Redbox Automated Retail LLC.

Idle Thought

"A good leader can't get too far ahead of his followers." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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

Percentage of Americans who reject the idea that women should return to their traditional roles in society, with most believing that both husband and wife should contribute to the family income, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends Project: 75

Percentage of working mothers who say they always feel rushed, compared with a quarter of stay-at-home mothers or working fathers: 40

Source: Pewsocialtrends.org.

Ranks of self-esteem/self-confidence and work/life balance on the list of the top motivations for which people seek professional coaching services, according to a recent global study of coaching clients commissioned by the International Coach Federation: 1, 2

Source: International Coach Federation.

Percentage of consumers who are planning to celebrate Halloween this year, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation: 62.1

Number of adults across the country who plan to dress up for Halloween this year: 47 million

Number of children who will dress up: 58 million

Source: National Retail Federation.

Percentage of business travelers who read personal books/magazines or listen to/view in-flight entertainment on the plane when traveling for work, according to an Egencia survey: 50

Percentage of respondents who sleep on the plane: 15

Percentage who spend their transit time working: 34

Source: Edelman.

Percentage of U.S. adults who would not change their personal definition of the perfect job once the economy improves, according to a Work Watch study released by Randstad: 83

Percentage of Americans who would be doing what they are currently doing or would be staying in the same field after the market improves: 61

Percentage of those surveyed who would want a sabbatical as a perk of their ideal job: 18

Source: Ranstad.

Percentage of all data breaches for small and medium-sized businesses that involved insider negligence, according to a Ponemon Institute LLC study released in April 2009: 88

Percentage that were the result of a malicious act: 12

Source: GFI Software.

Percentage of all U.S. dog owners who agree that spending time with their dog lifts their spirits, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Beneful: 95

Percentage who say that their dog helps them enjoy the simple pleasures in life: 92

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of American homeowners who believe their own home lost value in the past 12 months, according to the Zillow Q2 Homeowner Confidence Survey: 60

In reality, percentage of homes that lost value during that time, according to Zillow's second-quarter Real Estate Market Reports: 83

Source: Zillow.

Percentage of U.S. workers who made a career change last year, according to survey by SnagAJob.com: 18

Of those who did, percentage who did so proactively because they were looking for a new opportunity: 33

Percentage who reported that they sought new employment because they had been laid off or dismissed from their previous job: 25

Source: SnagAJob.com.

Percentage of senior executives and managers who expect their overall number of employees to increase over the next 12 months, according to a global survey of business leaders conducted by NFI Research: 26

Percentage who believe that employment numbers will remain the same: 50

Source: NFI Research.

Idle Thought

"It is good to rub and polish your mind against that of others." -- Michel de Montaigne, essayist

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