Percentage of Americans who planned to put their tax refund toward necessary expenses, such as student loans and credit card payments, according to a study from investment company Edward Jones: 53

Percentage who are planning to invest their 2016 tax refunds this year: 6

Percentage who planned to save their refund: 31

Percentage who planned to put it toward something fun, like a vacation or entertainment: 9

Source: Edward Jones.

Percentage of Americans who tend to focus more on healthy lifestyle choices leading into the warmer months, according to Toluna QuickSurveys: 58

Of those people, percentage who say they try to drink more water in an effort to lose weight and get healthier: 61

Source: Toluna QuickSurveys.

Percentage of all adults polled who are concerned that past exposure to loud noise in leisure settings may have harmed their hearing, according to a survey commissioned by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: 41

Percentage who said loud noise has reduced their enjoyment of out-of-home activities: 33

Ranks of bars/clubs and concerts on the list of the top noisiest places in the ASHA polling: 1, 2

Source: ASHA.

Today, estimated number of people in the U.S. who work for themselves, according to WalletHub: 15 million

Percentage of the labor force this represents: 10

Source: WalletHub.

Number of dogs in U.S. homes, according the U.S. Census Bureau: 78 million

Number of cats in U.S. homes: 86 million

Number of birds: 8 million

Number of rabbits: 3.2 million

Annual value of the animal food manufacturing business: $60 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of new nursing jobs (RN and LPN) in the U.S. from 2012 to 2016, according to CareerBuilder: 3.5 million

Projected growth in the number of jobs in 2017: 3.6 million

Projected growth from 2017 to 2021: 3.9 million

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who prefer to spend their money on traveling, according to the annual global travel survey from travel search engine Momondo.com: 25

Americans' typical vacation length, compared to the global average of 7: 14 days

Rank of London on the list of the most searched international destinations among Americans: 1

Source: Momondo.

Percentage of Americans who say they enjoy reading books, according to a survey by Ipsos: 81

Percentage who say they rarely read because they prefer TV: 44

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of singles who thought it "cringe worthy" if their date used a fork to eat sushi, according to a poll conducted by Grubhub and Tinder: 56

Percentage who thought it "adorable" to skip the chopsticks: 44

Source: GrubHub.

Ranks of coffee (48 percent), Netflix (44 percent), and sex (39 percent) on the list of items millennial women would be willing to give up for a month to be free of unwanted body hair for one year, according to a survey conducted by Kelton Global: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of bikini line, underarms and legs on the list of the biggest offenders: 1, 2, 3

Source: Kelton Research.

Idle Thought

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." -- Maya Angelou, poet

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

Average percentage pay boost planned by U.S. companies in 2017, according to research by SoFi: 3

Projected percentage inflation rate expected by economists, reflecting a downward trend in real wage growth: 2.3

Source: SoFi.

Percentage of credit card holders asking for a late fee waiver who were successful, according to a CreditCards.com report: 87

Percentage requesting a lower interest rate who received one: 69

Source: creditcards.com.

Percentage of CFOs who said they are at least somewhat motivated to become CEO of their organization, according to a Robert Half Management Resources survey: 64

When current CEOs were asked to select from a list of benefits they felt a CFO could bring to the role of CEO, ranks of "finance and data-driven decision-making," "fiscal management and efficiency improvement," and "economic and business awareness" among the choices made: 1, 2, 3

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Percentage of consumers who say they will be celebrating Mother's Day, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics: 85

Projected total spending: $23.6 billion

Source: NRF.

Percentage of Americans who believe parents today do not take enough responsibility for the behavior of their children (only South Africa is higher at 89 percent), according to an Ipsos Global Trends Survey: 87

Percentage of Japanese who think the same (the lowest): 60

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of workers who said they've received bad career advice, according to an Accountemps survey: 66

Rank of friend (35 percent), parent (14 percent), sibling or family member (10 percent) on the list of those people from whom they had received bad advice: 1, 2, 3

Source: Accountemps.

Average number of hours per week that heavy gaming fans play: 15 plus

Average number of hours per week that heavy movie fans watch movies: 9 plus

Average number of hours per week heavy TV fans watch: 20 plus

Percentage of heavy TV fans who watch TV live, as it airs: 81

Source: FANDOM.

Percentage of Americans working in construction -- the industry that sees the most workplace fatalities each year -- who feel that safety takes a back seat to productivity and completing job tasks, according to a National Safety Council Survey: 58

Percentage who say management does only the minimum required by law to keep employees safe: 51

Percentage of respondents who say employees are afraid to report safety issues: 47

Source: National Safety Council.

Year of the first Kentucky Derby, making it the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the United States, according to research by WalletHub: 1875

Number of horses who have won the Triple Crown: 12 (including 2015's American Pharoah)

Percentage of female attendees who wear a hat: 90

Number of mint juleps served over Kentucky Derby weekend: 127,000

Source: WalletHub.

When it comes to pretzel consumption, percentage of consumers who eat the curves first, according to a survey conducted by Superpretzel: 65

Percentage who go right for the knot: 17

When it comes to pretzel toppings, percentage of respondents who prefer cheese: 28

Percentage who like mustard or chocolate: 17

Percentage who like butter: 6

Source: JandJ Snack Foods Co.

Idle Thought

"It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?" -- Mahatma Gandhi

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

Estimated average time that workers age 16 and older across the country spend getting to work, according to research by the U.S. Census Bureau: 26.4 minutes

Percentage of the American workforce who ride a bicycle to work: 0.6

Estimated percentage who walk to work: 2.8

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of workers who report that employment-based health insurance is extremely or very important, according to "value of benefits" research by Employee Benefit Research Institute: 87

Percentage who said a retirement savings plan was important: 77

Percentage who cited a dental or vision plan: 72 percent

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of Americans who visit a local small business at least once a week, with 27 percent patronizing them twice a week, according to the 2017 Cox Business Consumer Pulse on Small Businesses: 92

Ranks of local support (67 percent), convenience (63 percent) and greater customer service than a large business (50 percent) on the list of reasons given for shopping and supporting small business: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cox Business.

Percentage of divorced Americnas who say the financial loss of a divorce has them going so far as to say they'll never marry again, according to a survey by Experian: 39

Of those who may consider tying the knot again at a later date, percentage who say good credit is an important quality for a potential spouse: 73

Percentage of respondents who regret not being more financially independent in their marriage: 59

Source: Experian Marketing Services.

Percentage of millennials who don't feel financially secure now, but expect to be in the future, according to a TD Ameritrade survey: 85

Percentage who are anxious about debt: 47

Source: TD Ameritrade.

Percentage of employees who believe political conversations among co-workers decrease their company's productivity, according to a survey by Clutch: 31

Percentage who say that in the past week they have felt "uncomfortable" amid political discussions at work: 12

Percentage of large companies (5,000 to 10,000 employees) that have some kind of office policy or guideline about politics in place: 67

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of wedding guests in the Northeast who indicate their typical gift for a close friend or family member is at least $200 in value, according to a survey by Bankrate.com: 30

Percentage of wedding guests in the Northeast who indicate they spend at least $100 for gifts given to colleagues, acquaintances and distant relatives: 46

Rank of cash or a check on the list of the most preferred gift of Northeastern and Midwestern gift-givers: 1

Rank of a physical gift off the registry as the most popular gift in the South and West: 1

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of millennials who responded that an equity stake in the company is important to them when choosing where to work, according to a study conducted by Fit Small Business: 5

Percentage of millennials who chose having a mean boss as the top reason they would leave their job: 18

When asked how much a shorter commute would mean when considering a job change, percentage who answered that they don't care how long they have to travel: 43

Source: Fit Small Business.

Percentage of Americans who are losing sleep because of money, according to a CreditCards.com report: 65

Percentage who worry most about health care or insurance bills: 38

Percentage who lie awake fretting about saving enough for retirement: 37

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage of American drivers who say they use the trash can at the fueling island to dispose of their trash from their cars, according to the results of a national consumer study on attitudes related to trash, conducted by National Association of Convenience Stores: 70

Percentage of convenience and fueling retailers who say that most of the trash in their trash cans at the fueling island is not generated from the store: 56

Source: National Association of Convenience Stores.

Idle Thought

"The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." -- William Wordsworth, poet

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