Percentage of Americans who revealed that they have peeked at a colleague's pay stub, admitting that they have given in to temptation and crossed the line to satisfy their curiosity, according to the Harlequin Romance Report 2010: 48

Percentage of American women surveyed who admitted to taking money from their significant other's wallet without their knowledge: 20

Source: Harlequin Enterprises Limited.

Percentage of employees who have had a co-worker take credit for their idea, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 58

Percentage of employees who spoke up to let others know it was their idea: 27

Percentage who did nothing: 41

Source: OfficeTeam.

Estimated global digital music industry revenues in 2009, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's 2010 Digital Music Report: $4.2 billion

Percentage of all recorded music industry revenues worldwide that now comes from digital channels: 25

Since 2004, percentage increase in digital revenues: 940

Source: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Number of 30-second commercial slots during the Super Bowl in 2010, an increase from 55 in 2007, according to industry research firm IBISWorld: 62

Cost this year of a 30-second commercial spot, down from $3 million last year: $2.7 million

Percentage of ad space for the Feb. 7 game that has already been sold, despite major players like Pepsi and FedEx dropping out due to economic troubles: 100

Source: IBISWorld.

While the national unemployment rate remained at 10 percent in December 2009, percentage of unemployed people who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, according to O.I. Partners: 40

When counting people working at part-time jobs who would prefer full-time work, and those who have become discouraged and stopped looking altogether, combined unemployment/underemployment rate: 17.3 percent

Source: O.I. Partners.

Percentage of respondents who think society is less judgmental about cosmetic surgery than it was five years ago, according to a survey by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery: 71

Percentage who said society's attitude toward cosmetic surgery made them feel more comfortable about getting a procedure: 62

Ranks of breast augmentation (42.4 percent), facelift (32.2 percent) and tummy tuck (32.1 percent) on the list of the most accepted invasive procedures: 1, 2, 3

Source: American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.

Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who said they have received bad career advice from coworkers, according to a survey by The Creative Group: 60

Percentage who said they have been steered in the wrong direction by their bosses: 54

Percentage who said they had received bad career advice from parents/relatives: 35

Source: The Creative Group.

Percentage of adults who have flown two or more times in the past year and are satisfied with the procedures for going through security checkpoints, according to a Gallup Poll: 65

Percentage who are satisfied with the airlines' efforts to deal with problems of flight delays/cancellations: 53

Percentage of travelers who are satisfied with fees charged by airlines for baggage or for rebooking a flight: 24

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of U.S. health care executives who believe the U.S. health care system is in crisis and are concerned health care reform legislation may negatively impact the quality of care and hospitals' profit margins, according to the 2009 National Survey on the Impact of Technology in Healthcare Reform: 74

Source: Arketi Group.

Percentage of active travelers who have visited a social networking Web site, according to the results of the travelhorizons survey: 59

Ranks of uploading photos/videos (49 percent), rating products or services (46 percent), visiting a chat room and/or posting content to a blog (25 percent) on the list of the most popular activities while on these sites: 1, 2, 3

Percentage who have joined a community of users who share common travel interests: 20

Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.

Idle Thought

"Many demolitions are actually renovations." -- Jalaluddin Rumi, poet

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

Percentage of Americans who are optimistic about their personal finances this year and listed among their most important goals: spending less overall, building up an emergency fund, and earning enough to cover monthly bills, according to a survey sponsored by ING Direct USA: 43

Percentage of Americans who plan to stash more cash in 2010 than in 2009: 64

Source: ING Direct USA.

Percentage growth in the median household incomes (adjusted for both inflation and household size) of married men, married women and unmarried women from 1970 to 2007, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of four decades of U.S. Census data: 60

Percentage growth in the median household income of unmarried men over this period: 16

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

Ranks of financial planning and advice, weight-loss and fitness, and work-related education among the sectors that will benefit most from New Year's resolutions in 2010, according to a study by IBISworld: 1, 2, 3

Approximate percentage growth in gym membership in January: 12.5

Projected percentage growth in February: 9.5

Projected percentage growth in March: 8.7

Overall forecasted percentage growth in gyms and health/fitness clubs in 2010: 3.2

Source: IBISWorld.

Percentage of respondents who said they enjoy the commercials that air throughout the Super Bowl more than the game itself, according to results of a survey by the Nielsen Co.: 51

Percentage who said that they enjoy the game more than the ads: 49

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Chance that a public high school student in the U.S. does not graduate, according to the Kaufman Foundation: 1 in 4

Among high school graduates, percentage that are considered proficient in mathematics: 17

Source: Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Percentage of Americans who said the "balloon boy" hoax was the most ridiculous news story of 2009, according to a Zogby poll: 23

Percentage who cited the Jon and Kate Gosselin breakup: 22

Percentage who said the Octomom giving birth to eight babies: 12

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of Americans who believe that the U.S. economy could enter another recession in 2010, according to The Wealth Hazards Worry Index: 40

Percentage of people who are confident that no recession will occur in 2010: 28

Source: Wealth Hazards.

Percentage of Americans who agree that airline passengers who fit the profile of terrorists based on their age, ethnicity or gender should be subjected to special, more intensive security checks before boarding U.S. flights, according to a Gallup Poll: 71

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of CEOs who plan to increase their total workforce expenses over the next 12 to 18 months, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Private Company Trendsetter Barometer survey: 57

Percentage of respondents who plan to remain the same: 35

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Percentage of workers who say their jobs are stagnant, according to Development Dimensions International's 2009 Pulse of the Workforce survey: 46

Percentage of stagnant workers (and 1 in 3 workers overall) who just do their jobs and go home: 50

Percentage of those who said their jobs are stagnant who cited no room to advance as the reason: 32

Source: Development Dimensions International.

Idle Thought

"Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts." -- William Hazlitt, essayist

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

Percentage of resumes that have some type of lie, according to a survey conducted by BackTrack: 40

Percentage of companies hiring today that will contract with a background-checking company to screen potential employees: 50

Percentage that will screen potential employees internally: 25

Source: BackTrack Inc.

Median tenure of workers -- the midpoint of wage and salary workers' length of employment in their current job -- according to a study by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI): 5.1 years

Median tenure for private-sector workers in 2008: 3.9 years

Median tenure for public-sector workers in 2008: 7.0 years

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of Americans in the 18-to-29 age group who say that high-tech communications devices such as Blackberrys and iPhones represent a change for the better, according to Pew Research: 72

Percentage of those ages 30 to 49 who agree: 62

For the public as a whole, percentage who say these handheld devices are a change for the better: 56

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Median age for first-time brides in the U.S., according to about.com: 27

Median age for grooms: 29

Median age for remarriage for brides: 34

Median age for remarriage for grooms: 37

Source: about.com.

Percentage of American families who have increased the number of meals prepared at home in 2009 as compared to 2008, according to an Allrecipes survey: 49

Percentage of survey respondents who cited "enjoying cooking and trying new recipes" as their main reason for eating at home: 30

Source: Allrecipes.com.

Percentage of survey respondents who say current and upcoming texting-while-driving bans by states will not alter their use of a cell phone while driving, according to a survey by Cellcontrol: 72

Percentage of drivers who admitted to using their cell phone to text, e-mail, surf the Web or have a conversation while driving in the past 12 months: 88

Percentage of those who agreed that driving while intoxicated and texting are equally dangerous: 75

Source: Cellcontrol.

Ranks of Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla and Toyota RAV4 on the list of the top 20 most-researched new vehicles for 2009, according to the Kelley Blue Book: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Percentage of adults over the age of 46 who do not feel secure in their jobs, as opposed to 80 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds who do: 34

Percentage of Americans over age 46 who point to the economy as having the biggest impact on stress levels: 52

Percentage of younger workers who attribute their stress to our country's economic woes: 33

Source: Workplace Options.

Percentage of American adults who lacked health insurance coverage in 2009, up from 14.8 percent in 2008, according to the Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index: 16.2

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of U.S. Tour Organizers Association tour operators who reported that custom-planned itineraries were their greatest growth area, according to a survey by Kundell Communications: 40

Percentage who reported that their highest growth was in independent tours: 25

Percentage who said that escorted tours were their area of greatest growth: 20

Source: Kundell Communications.

Idle Thought

"Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education. Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both." -- Abraham Flexner, educator

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