Percentage of employers who know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good or bad fit for a position, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 49

Percentage who make up their mind within a half-hour or longer: 8

Percentage of employers who say catching a candidate lying about something is an instant deal-breaker: 71

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Average amount of money Americans spend on impulse buying every month, according to a survey conducted by OnePoll for Slickdeals: $450

Amount that adds up to annually (or $324,000 over the course of their lifetime): $5,400

Estimated number of these purchases that are made every year: 156

Percentage of all purchases that are attributed to impulsive buying: 20

Source: Slickdeals.

Percentage of business travelers who feel they deserve to take a break from work and make time for themselves during business trips, according to a survey by National Car Rental: 80

Percentage of business travelers who think telling their bosses about fun and/or personal activities while traveling is a "no-go": 38

Percentage who avoid telling co-workers: 40

Percentage of business travelers who even go so far as to avoid posting on social media about fun times had while on the road: 25

Source: National Car Rental.

Percentage of people who find it inappropriate to call a female co-worker "girl" or "babe" or "sweetie," according to a poll on workplace behavior from NPR and Ipsos: 83

Percentage who have seen it happen at work: 58

Percentage of people who think sexual jokes or stories are inappropriate: 91

Percentage who have seen it happen: 53

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of adults in the U.S. workforce who have not noticed a decent or sizable increase in their paychecks since tax cuts were passed at the end of 2017, according to a Zogby poll: 67

Percentage who said they were receiving a decent or sizable difference in their paychecks: 27

When it comes to income, percentage of respondents who earn $100,000 to $200,000 annually who reported seeing an increase in pay since the tax cuts: 31

Percentage of those who earn less than $25,000 annually who reported the same: 15

Source: Zogby International.

Average number of minutes per day that professionals spend on sports-related activities in the office during the NCAA college basketball tournament, according to research by OfficeTeam: 25.5

With the March Madness NCAA tournament spread across 15 workdays, number of hours spent per employee: 6

Percentage of employees who wear team jerseys or other fan attire: 48

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of American consumers who are actively trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets, according to a Nielsen survey: 39

Percentage of Americans who follow vegetarian diets: 6

Percentage who are vegans: 3

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Percentage of senior-level IT professionals who fully expect their organization will experience a catastrophic data breach in the next three years as a result of unsecured IoT devices, or "internet of things" devices connected to wireless networks, according to the 2018 Global Megatrends in Cybersecurity, sponsored by Raytheon: 82

Percentage who say it could greatly impact shareholder value: 66

Percentage who believe cyber extortion, such as ransomware and data breaches, will increase in frequency and size of payouts: 67

Source: Raytheon Company.

Percentage of Americans who believe exercise programs are the best resource if looking to lose weight, according to a survey from the American Osteopathic Association: 56

Percentage who believe in consulting a nutritionist: 34

Percentage of respondents who rely on diet programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or Whole30: 29

Percentage who believe a physician is best: 28

Source: American Osteopathic Association.

Percentage of Americans who say they do not have more emergency savings than credit card debt, according to a Bankrate.com report: 33

Of these Americans, percentage who say their credit card debt exceeds their emergency fund: 21

Percentage who indicate they have no savings or credit card debt: 12

Source: Bankrate.com.

Idle Thought

"True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess." -- Louis Nizer

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

Estimated number of years it would take for a single homebuyer to save a 20 percent down payment on the typical U.S. home, according to a Zillow analysis: 11

Estimated number of years it would take for married or partnered couples: 5

In San Jose, California, number of years a single buyer would need to save for a down payment -- longer than the lifespan of a typical home loan: 30

Percentage of the U.S. housing stock a single person could afford to buy, compared to a married or partnered couple, who could afford 82 percent of all homes: 45

Source: Zillow.

Percentage of American adults who said that in their most recent romantic relationship they shared money attitudes and habits that were "similar" or "very similar," according to a survey by The National Financial Educators Council: 66

Percentage who said "different" or "somewhat different": 24.1

Percentage of respondents who said money has affected their past and current relationships in a positive way: 25

Percentage who said their relationships were negatively affected: 19

Source: National Financial Educators Council.

When asked to characterize the overall health of top performers in their companies, percentage of U.S. employees who said they were just "somewhat" healthy, according to the findings of the HealthMine 2018 Rising Risk Survey: 65

Percentage of employees who have worked with an executive who became severely ill and whose illness affected the company: 25

Source: HealthMine.

Percentage of HR managers who encourage candidates to check in after submitting a job application, according to a survey from Accountemps: 100

Percentage who said they take thank-you messages into account when deciding whom to hire: 80

Percentage of HR managers who said they have removed a candidate from consideration because they were too pushy after an interview: 33

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of workers who report dating a co-worker, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 36

Percentage of men who say they have dated a co-worker, compared to 35 percent of women: 37

Percentage of male workers who say they have dated someone at work two or more times in their career, compared to 15 percent of their female colleagues: 20

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of professionals who said they tried to negotiate salary during their last job offer, according to a survey from staffing firm Robert Half: 39

Percentage of men who negotiated salary, compared to 34 percent of women: 46

Rank of New York, Dallas, San Francisco and Pittsburgh on the list of areas where professionals are most likely to negotiate: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Today, average percentage less interest charged on a new car loan than on an average used car loan, according to WalletHub: 14

Compared to buyers with excellent credit, amount more in interest it will cost those with fair credit for a $20,000 five-year loan: $6,267

Ranks of car manufacturers (rates at 42 percent below average) and credit unions (rates at 19 percent below average) on the list of the best options for financing a new car: 1, 2

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of Americans who report feeling unhappy with how their body looks at times, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of RiverMend Health: 79

Ranks of "looking in the mirror," "at the beach in a bathing suit" and "when shopping for clothes" on the list of times when this dissatisfaction is most prevalent: 1, 2, 3

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs CJ.

Percentage of U.S. adults who said they didn't think gays and lesbians should adopt a child, according to a survey by Adam & Eve: 14 (9 percent of the women and 20 percent of the men)

Percentage of respondents who said they were not sure: 12

Percentage who believe that same-sex couples should be able to adopt a child: 73

Source: Adam & Eve.

Percentage of executives who said their teams have met to discuss high-level plans regarding how their organizations will allocate savings associated with the new tax cuts, according to a Korn Ferry survey: 39

Percentage who said they have not yet been able to quantify the savings from the new tax law: 52

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Idle Thought

"In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take." -- Adlai Stevenson

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

Percentage of luxury consumers who put a great deal of importance in staying on top of the latest technology trends, products and gadgets, according to findings released by LG Signature: 24

Percentage of luxury consumers in America who say the feeling they get while buying luxury products is better than sex: 41

Percentage of millennial respondents who say they associate "innovative" and "minimalist" with luxury more than they did five to 10 years ago: 67

Source: LG Signature.

Percentage of Americans who consider credit card debt to be enough reason to kick a potential partner to the curb, according to research from finder.com: 78

Average amount that is deemed unacceptable: $11,525

Percentage of Americans who say utilizing payday loans could render a person undateable: 78

Average payday loan amount that would be a deal-breaker: $1,830

Percentage of Americans who say student loans could make a person undateable: 76

Average student loan debt that would be a deal-breaker: $51,000

Ranks of medical bills (72.2 percent), home equity loans (71.25 percent) and business loans (70.9 percent) on the list of kinds of debts more willingly tolerated: 1, 2, 3

Source: finder.com.

Across the world, rank of figure skating on the list of the most popular Olympic events, according to an Ipsos Global Advisor study of 27 nations: 1

In the U.S., rank of hockey and snowboarding: 2, 3

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of boys who think it's more important for their parents to save for their college over their parents' retirement, compared with only 27 percent of girls, according to a T. Rowe Price survey: 45

Percentage of parents of both boys and girls who are saving for their kids' college rather than their own retirement: 53

Percentage of parents who agree with the statement, "I'd be willing to delay my retirement to pay for my kids' college education": 73

Source: T. Rowe Price.

Percentage of American 18- to 29-year-olds who admit they would rather upload a selfie than a picture with their loved ones, according to research from Hotels.com: 66

Percentage of U.S. young travelers who admitted to uploading pictures for bragging purposes while on vacation: 60

Percentage who check in at cool locations: 39

Percentage who track the amount of interaction on their posts: 32

Percentage who admitted they get anxious when their phone runs out of battery power on a trip, compared to just 8 percent who get anxious if they argue with their partner on a trip: 15

Source: Hotels.com.

Estimated amount that U.S. adults spent on gift cards in the last 12 months, according to Packaged Facts: $46 billion

Of this, amount that consumers spent on gift cards given to others: $28 billion

Amount they spent on gift cards they gave to themselves: $11 billion

Source: Packaged Facts.

When asked what their ultimate romantic vacation would be, percentage of respondents who chose a cruise to the Caribbean, according to a survey by Princess Cruises partnered with Wakefield Research: 55

Percentage of those surveyed who would opt to renew their vows at between 10 and 25 years of marriage: 51

Source: Princess Cruises.

Percentage of prospective homebuyers who would halt their home search if mortgage rates rose above 5 percent, according to a late 2017 survey commissioned by www.redfin.com: 6

Percentage who said that a 5 percent mortgage rate would cause them to slow their plans to buy: 27

Source: Redfin.

Percentage of consumers who won't use a home service professional again if they aren't technologically savvy, according to a survey commissioned by Verizon Telematics: 66

Percentage of service professionals across five industries (HVAC, construction, landscaping, plumbing and trucking/delivery) who recognize that technology adoption needs to be a top priority in order to ensure future business success: 70

Source: Verizontelematics.com.

Percentage of users of the SweetRing dating app who said they would like to limit their wedding costs to $20,000: 46

Percentage who would stay within a $15,000 limit: 28

Percentage who claimed they would rather save that money and travel to a foreign country: 10

Source: SweetRing.

Idle Thought

"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." -- Socrates, ancient philosopher

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