Although it is too early to assess the dollar damage of Florence, rank of 2005's Katrina on the list of the costliest U.S. tropical cyclones after accounting for inflation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 1

Estimated cost of Katrina: $160 billion

Ranks of 2017's Harvey ($125 billion), 2017's Maria ($90 billion), 2012's Sandy ($70.2 billion) and 2017's Irma ($50 billion): 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: NOAA.

Percentage of Americans who consider the cost of prescription drugs in the United States to be "unreasonable," according to a poll from the West Health Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit health care research organization: 75

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), national health spending in 2016: $3.3 trillion

Amount going toward prescription drugs: $328.6 billion

Source: West Health Institute.

Percentage of Americans who pronounce "caramel" as "CARE-ah-mel," according to a survey commissioned by HI-CHEW and conducted online by the Harris Poll: 57

Percentage who pronounce it as "CAR-mel": 36

Source: HI-CHEW.

Percentage of cannabis consumers who currently get their supply from a friend, according to a nationwide poll conducted by SoapBoxSample: 52

Percentage who go to a dispensary: 37

Percentage who shop online for cannabis: 18

Source: SoapBoxSample.

Ranks of family, career, fitness, hobbies and social life on the list of what fitness-conscious Americans consider most important in their lives, according to a study commissioned by Zoom: 1, 2 (tie), 4, 5

Percentage who said they do or plan to teach fitness as a priority to their children: 84

Source: Zoom.

Percentage of workers who said their typical lunch break lasts 30 minutes or less, according to research from staffing firm OfficeTeam: 56

Length of the average lunch break, down from 43 minutes in 2014: 39 minutes

Percentage of employees who confessed to working during lunch: 29

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of first responders who agree that mental health is as important as physical health, according to a University of Phoenix survey: 93

Percentage who believe that people who receive counseling generally get better: 83

Source: University of Phoenix.

Average amount that Americans in the lowest income bracket (under $30,000 per year) spend annually on restaurant food, prepared drinks (such as coffee, tea and smoothies) and lottery tickets, according to a Bankrate.com report: $2,118

On average, percentage of their annual income such financial vices comprise, the largest percentage of any income bracket: 13

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans who report that they are clean, according to an Ipsos poll: 99

Percentage who say maintaining good hygiene is a top priority: 92

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Amount of credit card debt that American consumers racked up during the second financial quarter of 2018 (the fourth-biggest Q2 increase ever), according to research by WalletHub: $29.8 billion

Amount extra that a Federal Reserve interest rate increase on Sept. 26 would cost people with credit card debt in the next year alone: $1.6 billion

Amount of credit card debt owed at the beginning of the year -- the most ever: $1 trillion-plus

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the first duty of the educator." -- Maria Montessori, educator

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

Percentage of America's blue-collar workers who see their lives heading "in the right direction," according to a study conducted by the Harris Poll and commissioned by Express Employment Professionals: 85

Percentage of these workers who are proud of their work: 91

Percentage who are satisfied with their jobs: 86

Percentage who say their jobs provide a good living: 80

Source: The Harris Poll.

Rank of actuarial science on the list of the most valuable college majors, based on salary, unemployment rate and career path that does not demand schooling beyond a bachelor's degree, according to a Bankrate.com report: 1

Average annual salary earned by actuarial science majors (ninth overall): $108,658

Rank of petroleum engineering on the list of the most financially lucrative degrees: 1

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of employers who use social networking sites to research job candidates, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey: 70

Of those that do social research, percentage who have found content that caused them to not hire candidates: 57

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of HR professionals who say that compared to three years ago, contingent, or "gig," workers now make up a larger percentage of their professional workforce, according to survey by Korn Ferry: 60

Percentage who say they plan on hiring more gig workers in the future: 42

Ranks of "access to resources for short-term projects" and "expertise we don't have in-house" on the list of the top two reasons given for hiring gig workers: 1, 2

Source: Korn Ferry International.

Number of pet-owning households in the United States, according to Packaged Facts: 67 million

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of Americans who agree that apprenticeships -- or "earn while learning" vocational opportunities -- make people more employable than going to college, according to a survey by American Staffing Association: 62

Percentage who say college degrees aren't worth what they used to be: 69

Percentage who say learning a trade is better for finding a job than a bachelor's degree: 68

Source: American Staffing Association.

Percentage of workers with lower incomes who agreed that preparing for retirement makes them feel stressed, according to an Employee Benefit Research Institute report: 64

Among workers who have not calculated how much they will need to save for retirement, percentage who are stressed: 65

Percentage of those in fair or poor health who are stressed: 75

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of Americans who say that saving for vacations is a low priority, according to a survey by CIT Bank: 43

Percentage who say that vacation saving is not a priority at all: 25

Percentage of Americans who go on vacations each year, with the majority spending up to $5,000: 77

Source: CIT Bank.

Percentage of people surveyed by patient.info who found it "extremely," "very" or "quite" inconvenient to cater for their non-meat-eating friends: 25

Percentage of people who now describe their diet as "meat-free" (pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan): 30

Percentage rise in veganism since 2006, when less than 5 percent of the population described themselves as vegan or vegetarian: 350

Source: Patient.info.

Percentage of Americans who think people in their country trust politicians to tell the truth less than they did 30 years ago, according to an Ipsos study: 69

Percentage of Americans who are confident they can identify "fake news" (which was defined as entirely made-up stories or facts) from real news: 65

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Idle Thought

"When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear." -- Mark Twain

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

Percentage of Americans who have moved less in the last few years due to increased screen time, according to a survey on behalf of Swiss Life Science Group Zaluvida: 88

Percentage who blame their weight gain on on-demand meal delivery, ride-sharing services or shopping apps: 80

Percentage of adults who are actively trying to lose weight, but only three in 10 of them are confident they'll be able to achieve it: 40

Source: Zaluvida Corporate AG.

For the eighth year in a row, percentage median base salary increase U.S. employees can expect to see in 2019, according to new research released by Korn Ferry: 3

Rise in the overall Consumer Price Index during the last 12 months, virtually negating any real wage growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 2.9

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Percentage of college seniors (and 93 percent of recent graduates) who reported looking forward to the next chapter in their lives, according to a white paper produced by the University of Massachusetts Medical School Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research (Transitions ACR), the Jed Foundation: 89

Percentage of college seniors who feel pressure to succeed in the professional world: 85

Among college seniors who feel any stress, percentage who cited "how much is unknown for the next few years" as a source of stress: 73

Source: Jed Foundation.

Percentage of self-proclaimed college football fans who are willing to give up something to save for tickets, lodging, tailgating, team merchandise and other activities, according to a SunTrust survey: 72

When asked the trade-offs they are willing to make to pay for one season of college football activities/items, percentage of fans who would cut back on eating out once a week: 48

Percentage who would forgo their gym membership: 33

Source: SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Percentage of retirement plan participants who indicated they are paying toward a student loan for themselves or on behalf of someone else, according to a new OneAmerica survey: 38

Of those, percentage of respondents paying toward student loans who reported that their obligation to repay the funds is impacting their ability to prepare for retirement: 85

Of that group, percentage who said student loans are having a "significant impact" on their ability to prepare for retirement: 38

Source: OneAmerica.

Number of people who believe that getting one of the new iPhones launching Sept. 12 is worth going into debt, according to WalletHub's 2018 Credit Score and iPhone Survey: 28 million

Number of times more that millennials say the new iPhone is worth going into debt for than baby boomers: 5

Source: WalletHub.

Number of times more likely that Americans suffering from a "vacation deficit" are to show signs of moderately severe to severe depression compared to the national average, according to the 10th annual Allianz Global Assistance Vacation Confidence Index: 2

Percentage of Americans with a vacation deficit who demonstrate symptoms of mild to moderate depression: 30

Source: Allianz Global Assistance USA.

Percentage of Americans who are familiar with recent efforts to ban plastic straws in places across America, according to an Ipsos/Buzzfeed poll: 78

Despite this, percentage of Americans who would prefer to always receive a plastic drinking straw when they order a beverage at a fast food restaurant: 59

Percentage who would prefer to always receive one at a sit-down restaurant: 50

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs CJ.

Percentage of IT hiring decision-makers who plan to expand the size of their teams between now and the end of the year, according to Robert Half Technology's latest research on the state of tech hiring: 60

Ranks of Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Charlotte, North Carolina, on the list of the top cities where companies plan to staff up their tech teams: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of cybersecurity and cloud security, cloud computing and cloud architecture on the list of the most desired areas of expertise: 1 (tie), 3, 4

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Of college students who likely had housing, groceries, insurance and cable paid for them, percentage who said the biggest financial surprise they experienced was how much things cost, according to a poll for Ally Bank: 57

Percentage of students who indicated they had a budget while in college: 90

Source: Ally Financial.

Idle Thought

"Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion." -- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher

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