Percentage of Americans who say government economic policies since the Great Recession have helped large banks and financial institutions a great deal, according to a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll: 45

Percentage who say they have helped the wealthy a great deal: 36

Percentage who say they have helped small businesses a great deal: 7

Percentage who say they have helped the middle class a great deal: 5

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

Percentage of Americans who say they will be ready to retire at age 65 or sooner, according to a Gallup Poll for CBS: 46

Percentage of Americans who said they would be ready to retire at age 65 or sooner 10 years ago: 67

Percentage who say they will have to work until their 70s: 28

Source: Gallup Organization.

Value of global digital music revenue, matching physical sales for the first time, according to the IFPI Digital Music Report: $6.9 billion

Value of the subscription segment of the digital revenue -- 23 percent of digital's total: $1.6 billion

Source: IFPI Digital Music Report.

On a scale of 1 to 5, score given by employees on the importance of having quality coffee available in the workplace and its effect on their productivity, according to a survey by Packaged Facts: 3.9

Amount Packaged Facts estimates that trips offsite for coffee could translate into in lost work time annually per daily coffee-drinking employee: $1,563

Source: Packaged Facts.

Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country heated by wood in 2013, which is 2.1 percent of all homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 2.4 million

Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country totally heated by solar energy in 2013: 50,235

Estimated number heated by utility gas in 2013, which is 49.1 percent of all homes: 56.8 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of hiring managers who indicated that they have asked a question in a job interview only to find out later that it was illegal to ask, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 20

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Likely percentage of 18- to 29-year-olds who have never had a credit card, according to Bankrate: 33

Average age at which Americans say people should get their first credit card: 22

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of senior managers who think their company is effective in recognizing employees for good performance, according to a survey by Robert Half International: 89

Percentage of all workers who say their company isn't good at recognizing good workers: 30

Ranks of rewards, growth opportunities and praise as the most valued forms of recognition: 1, 2, 3

Source: Robert Half International.

Percentage of homeowners who plan to spend money on home improvements this year, according to an annual survey by LightStream: 57

Percentage who will spend more than $5,000: 35

Percentage who will spend more than $10,000: 18

Percentage who will pay for it with credit cards: 30

Source: LightStream.

Percentage of Americans who say they are familiar with the sharing economy, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers: 44

Percentage who have tried the sharing economy firsthand: 19

Percentage who believe the sharing economy makes life more affordable: 86

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Idle Thought

"The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind." -- Charles Darwin

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

Estimated annual capital investment in the nation's highway and bridge network needed over the next six years by all levels of government to meet current transportation needs, according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transportation Association: $120 billion

Annual amount needed to meet public transportation needs: $43 billion

Source: American Public Transportation Association.

Overall median tenure of salary and wage workers (age 25 years and older) in the U.S. in 2015, according to the Employee Benefits and Research Institute: 5.5 years

Average length at which public sector workers stay in their jobs: 8 years

Average tenure for males 55 to 64, the longest of any age cohort: 10.7 years

Source: EBRI.

Ranks of self-awareness; interpersonal relationships, listening and empathy; and influence as the most-coached topics for top-tier corporate executives, according to a survey by Korn/Ferry: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of interpersonal relationships, listening and empathy; influence; and communication skills as the most-coached topics for mid-level managers: 1, 2, 3

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Chance that a woman giving birth between 2000 and 2014 was cohabiting at the time of the birth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1 in 5

Rank of women age 40 to 50 in managerial or professional occupations as those most likely to be childless versus women of a similar age in all other occupations: 1

Percentage by which the number of women age 40 to 44 having one child jumped from 1976 to 2014: 100

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of CFOs who say they have lost a good employee to a company offering higher compensation, according to a survey by Robert Half International: 25

Percentage who have lost a good employee because of limited opportunities for advancement: 22

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of business executives who consider the business suit typical office attire, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com of 500 executives (hiring and human resources managers in senior leadership positions including CEOs, CFOs and COOs): 20

Percentage who outfit themselves in business casual: 57

Percentage in jeans or shorts: 18

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of teens who report looking to their parents for information on how to manage money, according to a survey by The Allstate Foundation: 84

Percentage of parents who say their family's approach to financial matters is to not discuss finances with their children and "let kids be kids": 34

Source: Allstate Insurance Co.

Percentage of a company's market value that is attributable to its reputation, according to Weber Shandwick: 60

Percentage of consumers who say they are increasingly checking product labels to see which company is behind the product they buy: 67

Source: Weber Shandwick.

If all the oil from American do-it-yourself oil changers were recycled, the number of cars to which it would be enough to supply motor oil, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 50 million

Source: AutoMD.com.

Ranks of family satisfaction, health and nutrition, and sustainability on the list of what shoppers consider important factors in deciding what makes it into the shopping cart, according to a survey by Cone Communications: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cone.

Idle Thought

"It takes a lot of time to be a genius; you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing." -- Gertrude Stein

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

Percentage of people in 32 emerging and developing nations who say the Internet is a positive thing for education, according to a Pew Internet and Life survey: 64

Percentage who say it is good for the economy: 53

Percentage who say it is good for morality: 29

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

Percentage of small-business owners who say that new technologies will offer a bigger return on their investment than hiring another employee, according to a survey by Brother International: 72

Percentage who say hiring another employee will offer a better return: 28

Percentage of small-business owners who say they frequently feel overwhelmed with the number of technologies available to run their businesses: 63

Source: Brother International.

Percentage of Americans who think that 1 in 7 people in the U.S. is a Muslim, according to a survey by Ipsos: 15

Actual chance that a person in the U.S. is a Muslim: 1 in 100

Source: Ipsos Global.

Percentage of the public sector that is unionized, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 35.7

Percentage of the private sector that is unionized, down from 20.1 percent in 1983: 11.1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of retirees 65 and older who say they are living the retirement of their dreams, according to Country Financial: 79

Percentage of early retirees (ages 50 to 64) who say they are living the retirement of their dreams: 51

Source: Country Financial.

Percentage of singles who met their last first date online, according to a survey by Match.com: 31

Percentage who met through a friend: 25

Percentage who met in a bar or club: 6

Source: Match.com.

In a global survey, percentage of people who say they enjoy the freedom of being connected anywhere, anytime, according to a survey by Nielsen: 76

Percentage who say watching video is an important part of their lives: 55

Source: Nielsen Online.

Number of small-business owners in the U.S., according to Packaged Facts: 28 million

Percentage of those that do not have employees: 80

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of Americans who say they spend time thinking about vacations, according to a survey by Edward Jones: 28

Percentage who say they spend time thinking about retirement: 22

Source: Edward Jones.

Percentage of children age 4 to 8 who skip lunch on any given day, according to Nestle USA: 13

Percentage of 9- to 13-year-olds who skip lunch: 17

Percentage of 9- to 13-year-olds who skip lunch on the weekend: 23

Source: Nestle Confections & Snacks.

Idle Thought

"It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable." -- Moliere, actor and playwright

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