Percentage of Americans who commute to work in their car, according to Convergex: 85

Percentage who do so alone: 75

Source: Convergex.

Rank of Social Security on the list of the largest government programs in the world, accounting for 26 percent ($906 billion) of total U.S. federal spending in 2014 ($3.5 trillion), according to research by ProCon.org: 1

Percentage of unmarried retirees who relied on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income: 47

With the Social Security trust fund paying out more in benefits than it collects in employee taxes since 2010, year that the fund is projected to run out of money: 2034.

Source: ProCon.org.

Percentage of all men who tuck in their shirts at least three days a week, according to a Fruit of the Loom survey of men ages 25 to 60: 49

Percentage of tuckers who report being happier on the job: 60

Percentage more likely that tuckers are to report being socially outgoing: 10

Percentage more likely they are to say they're optimistic about the future: 22

Source: Fruit of the Loom.

With 3,130 ultra-wealthy individuals among its alumni, rank of Harvard University on Wealth-X's list of universities with the largest ultra-high net worth alumni population: 1

Ranks of the University of Pennsylvania (1,580), Stanford University (1,240), Columbia University (940), New York University (860) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT (670) on the Wealth-X ranking of universities with the largest ultra-high net worth alumni population: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of employers who believe the minimum wage should be increased in their state, up from 62 percent last year, according to a new CareerBuilder survey: 64

Percentage of employers who said they plan to hire minimum wage workers this year: 26

Percentage of all employers who believe the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) is fair: 6

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Date that a 29-year-old female passenger pigeon named Martha died, marking the extinction of the species that once covered North America in enormous flocks, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: Sept. 1, 1914

Today, estimated number of zoos and botanical gardens in the U.S. devoted to conserving and preserving threatened species: 600

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of millennials (those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s) who said they have college-related debt, according to a survey conducted by the nonprofit Investor Protection Institute.: 49

Percentage with debts of $1,000 to $20,000: 20

Percentage with debts of $20,000 to $50,000: 16

Source: Investor Protection Institute.

Approximate number of verses there are in the Bible about money -- twice as many as verses about heaven and hell combined, according to Crown Financial Ministries: 2,300

Percentage more likely that parents are to have talked with their children about the importance of good manners than about the value of money: 95

Percentage more likely they are to have talked about the benefit of good eating habits: 87

Percentage more likely they are to have talked about the risks of smoking: 82

Source: Crown Financial Ministries.

By 7 a.m., percentage of new parents with a mobile device who have visited their Facebook page for the first time in the day, according to research provided by Facebook: 56

Percentage of non-parents who have done the same: 45

Source: Nielsen Insights.

Percentage of Americans who agree that racism is a major problem in the U.S., according to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos: 70

Percentage who say America should deport most or all illegal immigrants: 56

Source: Reuters/Ipsos.

Idle Thought

"Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck." -- Guy de Maupassant, short story writer and novelist

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

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics' JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report for July 2015, total number of job openings in the United States, a record high since the Labor Department started tracking the data in December 2000: 5.75 million

Percentage of all employer-employee separations -- including layoffs, firings, etc. -- that involved an employee quitting, also known as the "take this job and shove it" indicator: 57.1

Highest percentage recorded since the end of the Great Recession, reported in January 2015: 57.5

Currently, average number of years workers spend at a job: 2.6

Source: Convergex.

Number of times their final annual pay at retirement (age 65) that the average worker will need to have saved to keep a pre-retirement lifestyle, according to Aon Hewitt's analysis of 77 large U.S. employers, representing 2.1 million employees: 11

According to the analysis, percentage of workers who are on track to meet or exceed their needs in retirement at age 65: 20

Source: Aon Hewitt.

Percentage of workers who admitted they've had an office bully, according to research from the staffing firm OfficeTeam: 35

Percentage of HR managers who said they think workplace bullying happens at least somewhat often at their company: 27

When employees were asked how they responded to a bully, percentage who stated they confronted the person: 32

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of American adults who have begun their holiday shopping, according to a new survey by CreditCards.com: 14

Percentage of Americans who said they plan to start shopping earlier this year compared to last year: 15

Percentage of all consumers -- or about 4.6 million people -- who have already finished their holiday shopping: 2

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage of respondents who say they're all for a quick kiss hello when greeting a friend, according to a Skout survey: 61

Percentage of men who kiss when saying hello: 64

Percentage of women who do the same: 56

Source: Skout.

Percentage of families who did not borrow any of the money they used to pay for college during the 2014-2015 academic year, according to the national study from Sallie Mae and Ipsos: 62

Among those who did borrow, percentage of the responsibility for the funds borrowed that fell primarily to the student: 75

Percentage of students who worked during the year to help cover costs: 74

Source: Sallie Mae.

Date that USA Today began publishing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: Sept. 15, 1982

Date that The New York Times issued its first edition: Sept. 18, 1851

Month that the first newspaper in America was published in Boston, called "Public Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick," and lasting for one day before being shut down by British authorities unhappy with its content: September 1690

Today, estimated number of publishers of daily, weekly or other periodical newspapers in the U.S., employing over 231,000 people: 7,500

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

On average, total amount of money the typical American spent in 2013, the most recent year for which data was available, according to research by Credit Donkey: $51,100

Median household income in the United States in 2013, a steep drop from the $56,436 reported in 2007: $51,939

As of December 2014, personal savings rate in the U.S., compared to the 10.5 percent rate reported in December 2012: 4.9

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of the top 10 fastest-growing degrees that are in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields, according to a the results of a CareerBuilder survey that looks at trends in college degrees over the past four years: 50

Percentage growth in science technologies/technicians: 49

Percentage growth in natural resources and conservation: 45

Percentage growth in parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies: 44

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of senior U.S. association executives who said their associations are outsourcing functions other than audit and legal services, according to a SmithBucklin Outsourced Services: 81

Ranks of graphic design/multimedia/video, editorial/publishing, advertising sales and membership technology on the list of services association executives considering outsourcing as an option to help achieve their organizations' goals: 1, 2(tie), 4

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Idle Thought

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." -- Leo Tolstoy

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

Percentage of women who said getting more sleep makes people more productive: 60

Percentage of men and women who agree that sleep and exercise play important roles in increasing productivity: 97

Percentage of Americans who feel most productive during the morning (between 6 and 11 a.m.): 62

Source: Crucial.com.

When asked, "If you found out tomorrow you were financially able to quit work, would you?" percentage who said they would, according to a survey from Ipsos Public Affairs' Omnibus Division: 40

Odds on winning the lottery: 175,223,110 to 1

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

If Canadians could vote in the U.S. presidential election, percentage who would hand the Democrats a victory over the Republicans (17 percent) and independent candidates (28 percent), according to a poll conducted on behalf of Global News: 55

Percentage who would have voted for Barack Obama in 2012: 86

Source: Global News.

Percentage of college students who prefer print textbooks to e-books, according to a survey conducted by Direct Textbook: 72

Percentage of textbooks purchased by students in 2014 that were print editions, according to the Student Monitor: 87

Percentage that were e-books: 9

Source: Direct Textbook.

In 2014, percentage of people who identified with the Catholic faith (down from 23.9 in 2007): 20.8

Percentage who identified with the evangelical Protestant faith (down from 26.3): 25.4

Percentage who identified with mainline Protestantism (down from 18.1) in 2007: 14.7

Percentage who stated they were unaffiliated (up from 16.1): 22.8

Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Percentage of Americans who believe travel is more enjoyable when experienced with their children, according to the results of a study by Expedia and Tinder: 33

Percentage who feel it is less enjoyable: 23

Percentage who report no meaningful difference: 42

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of workers who said they've experienced at least one work-related mishap when starting a new job, according to research from the staffing firm OfficeTeam: 54

Percentage who stated company technology (computer, phone, security access, etc.) wasn't properly set up when they arrived: 33

Percentage of HR managers who stated their company's process for bringing on new employees is "very effective": 50

Percentage who said it's "somewhat effective": 42

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of American adults who say that a product touted as "handmade/handcrafted" strongly or somewhat communicates that the product is high quality, according to a Harris poll: 59

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of lawyers who said they would have chosen business management or marketing careers if they hadn't become attorneys, according to a survey by Robert Half Legal: 20

Rank of academia/education, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and finance/economics on the list of chosen alternate careers: 2 (three-way tie at 12 percent each)

Source: Robert Half Legal.

Percentage of parents who say they frequently feel tired, according to a survey by care.com: 45

Percentage who say they feel stressed: 40

Percentage who say they never feel rested: 10

Source: Care.com.

Idle Thought

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." -- Arthur Ashe

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