Amount of money that Americans racked up in credit card debt during the fourth quarter of 2015, according to WalletHub's 2015 Credit Card Debt Study: $52.4 billion

Amount owed by the average household with credit card debt -- a mark last reached in 2007 during the ramp up to the financial system's 2008 collapse: $7,879

Source: CardHub.

Date that one of the most distinctive and near universal American colloquialisms -- the affirmation "OK" -- was first published in a Boston Post story with a brief definition: March 20, 1839

Year that the paper folded, after 125 years of publication: 1956

Today in the U.S., estimated number of weekly or other newspaper publishers still doing OK in this digital age: 7,500

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of workers who would trade wages to get more health benefits, according to an Employee Benefit Research Institute survey: 12

Percentage who would rather have fewer health benefits and higher wages: 20

Percentage of workers who are satisfied with the health benefits they currently receive: 66

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Percentage of students and parents who report high stress over college applications, according to the Princeton Review's 2016 survey: 72

Percentage who say college is worth the worry: 99

Percentage who say that earning a college degree will potentially help them land a better job and income: 44

Source: Princeton Review.

Percentage of Americans who believe that the American economy is rigged to help the rich and powerful, according to findings from an Ipsos poll: 66

Percentage of Americans who also believe that the middle class is dying: 68

Percentage of Americans who say that traditional politicians no longer care about the average American: 68

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who know someone who uses online dating, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 41

Percentage who know someone who has met a spouse or long-term partner via online dating: 29

Of those Americans who have used online dating, percentage who agree it is a good way to meet people: 80

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

Annual amount of money made by romance/erotica literature, the highest amount of any book genre, according to research by Adam & Eve: $1.44 billion

Percentage of the market held by this genre: 40

Percentage of the market held by religious/inspirational: 20

Percentage held by mystery/crime: 20

Source: Adam & Eve.

Percentage of CEOs, CFOs and senior-level CPAs who said the outcome of the 2016 presidential election is a consideration or factor in their company's business planning for the next fiscal year, according to a survey by the American Institute of CPAs: 64

Percentage who plan to continue hiring at their current pace: 25

Percentage who said they will defer hiring until after the election: 13

Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Percentage of smartphone owners who are using their phones at least occasionally while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: 67

Percentage of all motor vehicle crashes resulting from distracted drivers: 16

Percentage of fatal crashes: 10

Percentage of injury crashes: 18

Source: AutoMD.com.

Percentage of respondents who say women are not advancing in the workplace due to cultural and societal norms, according to a Mercer survey of more than 500 groups and businesses located worldwide: 25

Percentage of respondents who say women are not advancing in the workplace due to women and gender diversity not being viewed as key business strategy: 21

Source: Mercer.

Idle Thought

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." -- Victor Hugo, novelist and dramatist

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

Average student athlete's annual compensation in tuition, room and board, according to WalletHub's March Madness by the Numbers study: $120,000

Average salary of big-time college coaches: $5 million plus

Amount paid by CBS/Turner to acquire the TV rights for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament from 2011 to 2024: $10.8 billion

Estimated amount wagered on the 2015 tournament: $9 billion

Estimated amount illegally gambled on the 2015 tournament: $7 billion

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of CFOs who say they are much more open to negotiating non-monetary perks compared to one year ago, according to a survey by Robert Half: 9

Percentage of workers who want telecommuting options: 23

Percentage of workers who want non-traditional work hours: 21

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of Americans who say choosing locally grown/sourced items is an important factor in their purchasing decisions, according to a Harris poll: 50

Ranks of sugar content, fat content, sodium content and calorie count on the list of important considerations in choosing one item over another: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: The Harris Poll.

Median sale price of a new single-family home in 1967, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: $22,700

Price in 2016: $282,800

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of college students in the United States, according to IBIS World: 20 million

Amount of spring break spending in 2016, according to IBIS World: $1.7 billion

Percentage of students who book hotel rooms for $100 or less, according to Priceline: 43

Source: IBIS World.

Percentage of American workers who say they have virtually no money in savings and investments, according to EBRI's Retirement Confidence Survey: 57

Percentage of workers who report savings of $25,000 to $49,999: 9

Percentage who report savings of $100,000 to $249,999: 10

Percentage of workers who have savings of $250,000 or more: 14

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of human resource managers who said they would consider rehiring a former employee who left their company on good terms, according to a new survey from Accountemps: 77

Percentage of workers who said it is very likely they would ever apply for a job at a previous employer: 17

Percentage of workers who said the primary reason they would not apply for a job at a previous employer is because they didn't like management: 23

Percentage who said they didn't like the corporate structure: 14

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of Americans who deem driving while extremely over the legal limit for alcohol use is very dangerous, according to an Ipsos Survey: 93

Percentage of Americans who classify taking a selfie while driving as being unsafe: 92

Percentage who say the same of texting while driving: 91

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of global citizens who agree that law-enforcement agencies should have a right to access the content of their citizens' online communications for valid national security reasons, according to a poll undertaken by the Centre for International Governance Innovation and conducted across 24 countries: 70

Percentage of respondents, including 60 percent of Americans, who think that companies should not develop technologies that prevent law enforcement from accessing the content of a user's online data: 63

Source: Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Percentage of U.S. broadband households that now own a smartphone, according to Parks Associates mobile research: 86

Year that U.S. carriers started to do away with the once-familiar two-year contract, which tied consumers to a two-year phone upgrade cycle: 2012

By the third quarter of 2015, percentage of mobile consumers who had a contract, down from almost 70 percent at the end of 2011: 51

Source: Parks Associates.

Idle Thought

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." -- Bertrand Russell

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

Average amount that Americans spend annually on food (about $4,000 spent at the grocery store and about $2,600 on eating out): $6,600

Average amount that Americans spend on clothing each year: $1,600

Average amount the average person in the United States spends on health care -- insurance costs accounting for about 61 percent of total health care spending: $3,600

Average transportation expenditure, including gas, insurance and maintenance: $9,000

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of adults whose parents read to them every day who are likely to report very strong relationships with their parents, according to a Harris Poll: 74

Among adults whose parents read to them every day, percentage who strongly agree that they love to read: 72

Among adults who were read to daily or at least weekly, percentage who are significantly more likely to report six-figure incomes than those who were read to less than once a week or never: 31, 29 respectively

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of working-age adults who see good opportunities around them for starting a business, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor with sponsors Babson College, Universidad Del Desarrollo, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak and Tecnologico de Monterrey: 42

Percentage who feel constrained due to fear of failure: 33

Percentage of the working-age population, on average, who feel they have the ability to start a business: 50

Source: Babson College.

Year in which more electronic mail was being sent than postal mail in the United States, according to a report by the Radicati Group on global email use: 1996

In 2015, the number of emails sent every day: 2 billion

Number of registered email accounts: 4.35 billion

Source: Radicati Group.

Once they decide to stay at home for the evening, percentage of people who say they negotiate with their spouse, partner or significant other when deciding which shows to watch, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Netflix: 71

Percentage of respondents who say shows are a focal point of a relationship because they are more fun when watched together: 67

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Rank of coral/pink, emerald green and goldenrod/yellow on the list of the most popular colors for hard-boiled Easter eggs, according to research from The American Egg Board: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of Americans who use store-bought dye (or decorating kits) to decorate their eggs: 68

Ranks of egg hunts, decorating eggs and Easter brunch on the list of favorite Easter activities: 1, 2, 3

Source: American Egg Board.

Percentage of people who have elected to extend a vacation because of a romance begun while travelling, according to an Expedia survey: 5

Percentage who say they would consider extending that relationship once the vacation concludes: 23

Percentage who said they would not: 32

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of Americans who have made impulse purchases, according to a CreditCards.com report: 84

Percentage of people who have ever made an impulse purchase who said the most common recipient was themselves: 47

Percentage who said the most common recipient was a child: 21

Source: CreditCards.com.

Rank of "The Sound of Music" and "Titanic" on the list of the most iconic award-winning movies that showcased the most beautiful smiles, according to a survey done on behalf of the makers of the Invisalign: 1 (tied at 17 percent)

Percentage of Americans who would rather have their own smile than that of any actor or actress nominated in 2016 (47 percent of men and 52 percent of women): 49.5

Source: Invisalign.

Percentage of people who plan to look for a new job in 2016, according to a survey by SKOUT: 55

Percentage who say they have gotten a job because of a friend: 53

Source: Skout.

Idle Thought

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." -- Mark Twain

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