Percentage of working Americans who do not receive any type of paid vacation leave in their current positions, according to a survey by Kelton: 23

Percentage of respondents who say they can't even go one month of their daily routine before feeling like they need a vacation: 20

Percentage of working Americans who say they want or feel they need more allotted vacation days on top of the days already provided by their employer and, on average, would like an additional 17 paid vacation days: 90

Source: Kelton Research.

Percentage of consumers who say they are/were more worried about what to buy their mom for Mother's Day than what to buy their dad for Father's Day, according to a RetailMeNot Shoppers Trend Report: 67

Percentage of consumers who have forgotten to wish their mom a Happy Mother's Day in the past, let alone get them a gift: 16

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

When considering job candidates' qualifications beyond traditional accounting skills, percentage of CFOs who said they value general business knowledge most, according to an Accountemps survey: 33

Percentage of respondents who look for expertise in information technology: 25

Ranks of communication skills (14 percent), leadership abilities (13 percent) and customer-service orientation (13 percent) on the list of the most valued skills: 2, 3 (tie)

Source: Accountemps.

Estimated number of people in the U.S. who are of Asian heritage, approaching 6 percent of the total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 18.2 million

Estimated number of people of Asian heritage who live in California, the largest number within this group: 5.8 million

Percentage of the total population of Hawaii who are of Asian descent: 57

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Average number of hours per week that women spend doing housework today, compared to the 25.7 hours spent weekly by their mothers in 1965, according to the American Time Use Survey of 2011 from the United States Department of Labor: 13.3

Source: United States Department of Labor.

Percentage of American adults who have delayed or will delay dental care due to the uncertain U.S. economy and their lingering fears about their current financial situation, according to a survey conducted by ORC International and commissioned by Aspen Dental: 36

Percentage of those who indicated that they knew that delaying dental care would cost them more in the long run: 80

Source: Aspen Dental.

Percentage of women who said that when they were pregnant with their first child, they expected their partner to buy them a gift on Mother's Day, according to a survey by Eric Mower & Associates: 60

Percentage of dads who disagreed: 60

Source: Eric Mower & Associates.

Percentage of do-it-yourselfers (DIYers) who report doing either the same amount or more of their own auto repairs and maintenance this year versus one year ago, according to the 2013 DIY Report from AutoMD.com: 90

Of those who reported that their financial situation has actually improved year over year, percentage who still choose to do their own repairs: 79

Percentage of DIYers who report 100,000 miles or more on their primary vehicle: 64

Source: AutoMD.com.

Despite the challenges facing them, percentage of small business owners who feel that their business is performing at expected levels so far in 2013, according to a survey from TD Bank: 60

Ranks of growing their business (51 percent), the economic environment (45 percent) and cash flow (34 percent) on the list of the top three challenges they face: 1, 2, 3

Source: TD Bank.

When it comes to daily routines for fashion and beauty, percentage of women ages 18 to 34 who spend time choosing their clothes, according to a John Frieda-commissioned report: 28

When a special occasion is on the calendar, percentage of women who said they spend significant time on their hair, with 49 percent spending more than 30 minutes: 61

Ranks of wedding (72 percent), job interview (68 percent) and a first date (37 percent) on the list of the top three events where hair matters most: 1, 2, 3

Source: Wal-Mart.

Idle Thought

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." -- Albert Schweitzer

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

Average spending per family in 2013 on the annual high school ritual of prom, according to a survey released by Visa Inc.: $1,139

Percentage of prom costs that parents are planning to pay: 59

Source: Visa.

During the first two years of the nation's economic recovery, estimated percentage rise in the mean net worth of households in the upper 7 percent of the wealth distribution, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released U.S. Census Bureau data: 28

Estimated percentage drop in the mean net worth of households in the lower 93 percent of the wealth distribution: 4

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

When asked which tidbit of personal information they would rather divulge to a co-worker -- waist size or wallet size -- percentage of Americans who said they would rather share their real weight, according to a Country Financial Security Index survey: 63

Percentage of men who have lied about their income, compared to 18 percent of women: 22

Percentage of respondents who admit they have been scared to check their bank statement: 33

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of consumers who believe that saving money in their everyday lives is important, according to the results of a survey conducted on behalf of RetailMeNot: 93

Percentage of respondents who are saving about the same or more money per month than they were five years ago: 61

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage of Americans who truly consider themselves "middle class," placing themselves on the middle rung of a five-tier economic class system which includes upper class, upper middle, middle class, lower middle and lower class, according to poll results released by The Allstate Insurance Co. and National Journal: 46

Estimated median income for a typical middle-class family of four: $68,274

Percentage of Americans who say they're concerned about falling out of their economic class over the next few years: 59

Source: Allstate Insurance Co.

Ranks of fire pits and fireplaces, grills, seating and dining areas, and lighting on the list of the expected popularity of various residential outdoor design elements in 2013, according to a survey conducted by the American Society of Landscape Architects: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: American Society of Landscape Architects.

Average base salary of executive assistants, up 5.6 percent from 2011, according to the Compdata Surveys 2012 BenchmarkPro survey results: $54,500

Percentage increase in office managers' salaries from $44,800 in 2011 to $47,000 in 2012: 4.9

Percentage increase in secretaries' salaries in 2012, to $32,400: 3.8

Source: Compdata Surveys.

Year that the Xerox Corp., then a major developer, introduced the mouse to the commercial computing world, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1981

Cost of the mouse at that time and perhaps the reason it didn't catch on: $20,000

Today, number domestic computer manufacturers in the country: 425

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Revenue for the year 2011 in the small arms manufacturing industry, according to the Research and Markets report: $3.6 billion

By adding import value to and subtracting export value from the industry's shipment value, total domestic demand for the industry in 2011: $1.9 billion

Source: Research and Markets.

Percentage of this year's U.S. vacationers who plan to take as many short trips as possible, compared to only 22 percent eyeing a more traditional, one-week or longer summer escape, according to a consumer survey by Destination Hotels & Resorts: 76

Percentage of survey participants who indicated that one of the most important elements in their final travel booking decision was value, beating out cost/budget as the prime consideration: 75

Source: Destination Hotels & Resorts.

Idle Thought

"Ambition is like hunger: It obeys no law but its appetite." -- Josh Billings, humorist

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

Percentage of employers who expect their workers to wear a business suit, according to a study conducted for CareerBuilder: 4

Percentage of employers who report having a business casual environment: 43

Percentage who allow jeans: 33

Percentage where workers wear a uniform: 21

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of hotel guests who admit to pocketing room amenities, according to a survey by accommodation booking service Hotels.com.: 35

Ranks of Denmark, Netherlands and Norway on the list of the least-sticky-fingered hotel guests: 1, 2, 3

Rank of the United States: 23

Source: Hotels.com.

Percentage of Americans who believe that organic foods are healthier than nonorganic, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 55

Percentage of respondents who know what the term "dirty dozen" (The Environmental Working Group's annual list of foods that consumers should always buy organic due to pesticide levels) means in regards to organic food: 23

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage reduction in the resale value of a home in which there are smokers, according a survey sponsored by Pfizer Canada: 29

Percentage of real estate agents and brokers who said most buyers are less likely to purchase a home where people have smoked: 56

Source: Pfizer Inc.

Percentage of single men who have received a sext (sexy photo or explicit text), according to findings from the third annual Singles in America study by Match.com: 57

Percentage of single women who have received a sext: 45

Percentage of these singles who have shared them with others: 23

Source: Match.com.

Percentage of Americans who believe that money and wealth should be more evenly distributed among a larger percentage of the people in the U.S., according to a Gallup poll: 59

Percentage who think the current distribution is fair: 33

Percentage who think the government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich: 52

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of American adults who say they have ever tried marijuana, the highest percentage ever, according to a Pew Research Center survey: 48

Of the 48 percent who have ever used it, percentage who say they did so in the past year: 25

Percentage who say they have tried marijuana, but not in the past year: 75

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

While more companies are using mobile devices and Cloud apps, approximate number of office professionals in North America alone who get 10 hours or fewer of training every year provided by their employer, according to data drawn from IAAP and other sources: 6 million

Estimated percentage of those office professionals who are completely responsible for their own training and get little training support from their employers: 50

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Percentage of family caregivers who admit to lying to the person they're caring for, according to a survey by AgingCare.com: 73

Percentage who believe lying is justified because it either makes their own life easier, or it's for the elderly family member's "own good": 50

Source: AgingCare.com.

Ranks of Facebook ($34.3 billion), YouTube ($26.8 billion), Twitter ($23.6 billion) and the Chinese social network Qzone ($16.3 billion) on the list of the most valuable social media brands of 2013, as assessed by the department of Social Media Management of HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich, in cooperation with BV4 Certified Brand Valuation Experts: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration -- Zurich.

Idle Thought

"What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering." -- George Bernard Shaw, Nobel laureate

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