Percentage increase in the prices of gifts in the holiday classic "The Twelve Days of Christmas, according to PNC Wealth Management: 3.5

According to the 29th annual survey, current price tag for these gifts, $1,168 more than last year: $25,431.18

Cost if you want to buy the whole shebang from a single partridge to twelve drummers drumming for each verse (that's 364 separate pieces of Christmas joy): $107,300.24

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Year that the first Christmas tree debuted at Rockefeller Center, erected by construction workers eager to receive a day's pay in the depths of the Great Depression and decorated with tin cans and scrap paper, according to Bloomberg Business Week: 1931

Height of the 1931 tree: 20 feet

Height of the 2012 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a New Jersey survivor of Hurricane Sandy: 80 feet

Source: Bloomberg.

Percentage of senior managers who say their employees are less productive the week before a major holiday, according to a survey by Accountemps: 34

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of executives who said they look forward to Christmas celebrations, according to an executive survey by Korn/Ferry International: 56

Percentage who said they attend them when they can: 38

Percentage who said they generally do not attend or have little interest: 6

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Estimated percentage of homes that still put up and decorate a real Christmas tree each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 20

Estimated percentage of U.S. households that now use artificial trees to decorate for the holidays: 50

Value of artificial Christmas trees imported into the U.S. from China during the first nine months of last year: $80 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Average amount of money companies expect to spend on each client gift this year, down from $30 last year, according to Advertising Specialty Institute's 2012 corporate gift-giving survey: $26

Ranks of food baskets and tins of popcorn branded with a company's logo, gift cards, calendars and writing instruments on the list of the most popular gifts for clients or prospects: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.

Percentage of event planners and administrative professionals who said they would be disappointed if their holiday festivities were canceled, according to the Holiday Parties and Office Morale survey conducted by BizBash and Seamless: 90

Percentage who said that the holiday party is important to the team dynamic: 90

Source: BizBash.

Percentage of Americans who hadn't done any holiday shopping as of the first week of December, according to Consumer Reports Holiday Poll: 36

When it comes to deciding which gifts to give, percentage of Americans who said they simply buy what the person they're shopping for requested: 65

Percentage who rely on advice from friends or family: 40

Source: Consumer Reports.

Ranks of sleep, time and money on the list of biggest challenges faced by moms, according to a BabyCenter.com survey: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of parents who get less than six hours of sleep a night: 30

Percentage who can't remember the last time they slept eight hours: 30

Source: BabyCenter LLC.

Percentage of American workers who are retired, according to poll conducted by Ipsos Observer on behalf of Quicken: 21

Among those who are still in the workforce, percentage who believe that they won't be able to retire by the age of 65: 53

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Idle Thought

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." -- Albert Camus

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

Percentage of cat owners who go the extra mile this time of year to buy their cat the perfect present to put under the tree, according to a survey conducted by Temptations treats for cats: 46

Percentage of women who are more likely than men to consider their cat when buying gifts during the holidays: 49

Source: Temptations.

Percentage of women who wish they could stop exchanging gifts with certain people: 42

Percentage who have started exchanging handmade gifts to cut down on costs, with baked goods being the most popular homemade present: 52

Number of people that the majority of respondents say they buy gifts for: 10

Source: Women & Co.

Percentage of parents who say their kids found their gifts ahead of Christmas, according to a Wal-Mart survey: 14

Rank of the closet on the list of the best hiding places for gifts: 1

Rank of nagging on the list of the most persuasive techniques that parents say their child uses to get the toy he/she wants for Christmas: 1

Source: Wal-Mart Media Relations.

If one were to assume that Santa works in the realm of standard time, estimated length of time he would be able to spend per home, according to NORAD: 2 to 3 ten-thousandths of a second

Estimated age of Santa Claus: 16,000 years

Length of time his Christmas Eve trip may seem to us to take, but to Santa it may last days, weeks or even months in standard time because he functions within a different time-space continuum than the rest of us do: 24 hours

Source: NORAD.

Percentage of respondents who state that they will not book a hotel that does not have any reviews on the site, according to a survey conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor: 53

Percentage of travelers who state that they write reviews because they want to share a good experience with other travelers: 74

Source: TripAdvisor.

Ranks of "security threats" and "decreased productivity for employees" on the list of the biggest reasons companies block access to social media websites, according to a survey of human resource professionals by MySammy in conjunction with Holos Research: 1, 2

Percentage of respondents who expressed concern that employees are using social media to harm their reputation: 76

Source: MySammy LLC.

Ranks of booking early (47 percent), traveling on off-peak days (43 percent) and staying with family instead of in a hotel (39 percent) on the list of the top ways respondents are saving on travel this holiday season, according to Orbitz: 1, 2, 3

On average, amount of money respondents plan to spend on their holiday travels: $2,446

Source: Orbitz.

Percentage of those who have already given to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts who say it will not impact their year-end charitable giving, according to the annual survey by Red Cross: 78

Percentage of those who gave to political causes who say it will not reduce their giving to nonprofits this holiday season: 90

Source: American Red Cross.

Percentage of all robberies in 2012 in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles that are related to Internet-enabled handheld devices (including tablets), according to research by ProCon.org: 50, 40 and 25 percent, respectively

Pounds of carbon dioxide that result from manufacturing one tablet, which requires the extraction of 33 pounds of minerals, 79 gallons of water and 100 kilowatt hours of fossil fuels: 66

Source: ProCon.org.

Percentage of consumers who plan to purchase, or have already purchased, cause-related gifts, according to the 2012 Cone Communications Holiday Trend Tracker: 16

Percentage of consumers who expect companies to support causes during the holidays: 71

Percentage of consumers who say they feel better about companies that support holiday causes: 75

Source: Cone.

Idle Thought

"The most beautiful people I've known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss and have found their way out of the depths." -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

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

Percentage of kids who said they would clean their room daily for a year to get the toys they want for Christmas, according to a Wal-Mart survey: 68

Percentage who said they would work hard and give up playtime: 84

Percentage of kids who would eat spinach for a year: 23

Source: Wal-Mart Media Relations.

Percentage of managers who have fired an employee for holiday shopping at work, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 7

Percentage of hiring managers who have fired an employee for something they posted on social media: 11

Percentage of hiring managers who have fired someone for sending non-work-related emails: 11

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of British lottery winners who would head to the U.S., the top vacation destination for winners of at least a million British pounds, according to a study conducted by lottery operator Camelot and Oxford Economics: 27

Percentage who would choose trips to areas in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica: 9

Ranks of the Canary Islands, Dubai and Mallorca on the list of top destinations chosen by U.K. lottery winners: 3, 4, 5

Source: Holiday Hypermarket.

Of those consumers who indicated that they will spend more money this holiday season compared with last year, percentage who said they are making more money this year, according to the results of PriceGrabber's first holiday shopping survey: 42

Percentage who attributed their decision to better prices on gifts: 34

Percentage of shoppers who said they will spend more due to increased credit limit: 13

Percentage who are tired of being frugal: 8

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Percentage of women who say they have no regrets when it comes to holiday spending, according to Women & Co./Real Simple Survey: 60

Percentage of women who called themselves bargain-hunters who visit several retailers and clip coupons to get the best price, and look for creative ways to prioritize and save: 40

Source: Women & Co.

Ranks of Orlando, Fla., New York City, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Denver on the list of top Christmas destinations, according to Orbitz: 1, 2, 3, 4

Percentage of Americans who plan to travel this holiday season: 68

Source: Orbitz.

Percentage of consumers who spend less than an hour hunting for the best prices for their holiday purchases, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Offers.com: 60

Percentage who say that they spend one to three hours: 25

Percentage who report spending over three hours: 8

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of consumers who say a printed book is better for reading to a child, compared to an e-book (9 percent), according to Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Reading Habits Survey: 81

Percentage who say a printed book is better for sharing with friends than an e-book (25 percent): 69

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of online shoppers who typically shop between working hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), according to a survey by Monitis: 40

Source: Monitis.

Percentage of consumers who choose to splurge on others rather than on themselves during the holidays, according to a ShopAtHome.com Survey: 66

Percentage who admit to treating themselves to one item, but only if it's on sale: 30

Percentage of consumers who plan to allocate most of their holiday shopping budget to children: 72

Source: ShopAtHome.com.

Idle Thought

"If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people." -- Virginia Woolf

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