Figuratively Speaking

Number of copies of adult coloring books that were sold in the United States last year, up from just 1 million in 2014, according to Nielsen BookScan data from the 2015 U.S. Book Industry Year Review: 12 million

Number of coloring book titles that were published last year, compared with 300 the previous year: 2,000

In the past year alone (year ended April 30), amount that Americans spent on colored pencils, a 47 percent spike from the previous year: $128.2 million

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of people who said financial security would allow them to relocate or buy a home, according to new data from Northwestern Mutual: 34

Percentage who said financial security would allow them to leave money to loved ones: 32

Percentage of people who said they would stop working if they had financial security: 15

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

Percentage of adults who reported never working on vacation, according to research from Alamo Rent A Car: 44

In both the 2015 and 2016 surveys, rank of "spending quality time together" as the most important benefit of traveling as a family: 1

Percentage of adults who said they are likely to go on vacations with extended family, up from 67 percent in 2015: 73

Source: Alamo Rent A Car.

Amount of annual revenue that comes from IRS enforcement activities, according to WalletHub: $50 to $60 billion

Amount that comes from people who "voluntarily pay what they owe": $3.3 trillion

Number of hours it takes Americans to do their taxes each year (16 hours per person): 6.1 billion

Source: WalletHub.

Rank of Mossack Fonseca on the list of the largest global firms providing clandestine offshore financial services, according to an article by Deborah Hardoon, Oxfam's deputy head of research: 4

Estimated amount that tax havens cost poor countries in lost tax revenues each year: $170 billion

Source: Oxfam.

With telecommuting, flexible schedules and an increasingly wired (and wireless) world, percentage of employees who feel their work and personal lives are becoming increasingly blended, according to the 2016 Cone Communications Employee Engagement Study: 64

Percentage who want to work for a company that cares about them as an individual: 93

Percentage of workers who say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided opportunities to make a positive impact at work: 74

Source: Cone Communications.

Year that the first recorded automobile accident involving two vehicles (a bicycle and a car) occurred, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1896

Today, average number of motor vehicle accidents that are reported to police per year: 5.7 million

Estimated number of insurance carriers in the U.S., with annual industry revenues of about $1.7 trillion: 31,000

Source: Census Bureau.

When it comes to makeup/cosmetic use, average number of days per week that women typically wear makeup, including using mascara (5 days), foundation (4.9), concealer (4.8) and eyeliner (4.8), according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Boots Retail USA Inc.: 5

When it comes to satisfaction with current cosmetics, ranks of eyeliner and mascara on the list of items that women are most happy with: 1, 2

Source: Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who believe that everyone has control over their weight, according to a survey of 1,000 overweight Americans by Mike Berland: 75

Percentage of respondents who say that all calories are the same: 82

Percentage who say dieting is expensive: 76

Source: Teszler PR Inc.

Percentage of American adults who believe musicians and comedians canceling performances will be effective in deterring the passage of anti-LGBT laws, according to a Harris Poll: 50

Percentage of Americans who are familiar with "bathroom bills" -- laws that require individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to their sex at birth: 76

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle Thought

"A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points." -- Alan Kay, computer scientist

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

Due to a longer life expectancy, a need to earn income longer, and the fact that some people enjoy their jobs, percentage of U.S. employees who say they don't expect to retire until they are 70 years old, according to The Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, conducted by Willis Towers Watson: 25

Percentage of employees who don't ever expect to retire: 5

Percentage of men in the U.S. who are working past age 65 today: 22

Source: Willis Towers Watson.

Percentage of co-signers to loans who have had to pay some or all of the bill because the primary borrower did not, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 38

Percentage who experienced a drop in their credit score because the other person paid late or not at all: 28

Percentage of co-signers who said the experience damaged their relationship with the person they co-signed for: 26

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Percentage of Americans who report they are "living comfortably" or "doing OK," according to a survey of household economics and decision-making commissioned by the Federal Reserve Board: 69

Percentage of non-retired respondents who saved at least a portion of their income from the prior year: 68

Percentage of respondents who were mostly or completely happy with their neighborhoods: 70

Source: Federal Reserve Board.

Estimated number of fathers across the United States in 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau: 70.1 million

Number of fathers who were part of married-couple families with children younger than 18 in 2015: 24.9 million

Number of single fathers in 2015: 1.9 million

Percentage of single parents who were men: 16

Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2015: 199,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of workers who feel they don't get enough time off, according to a survey from Accountemps: 33

Percentage of workers who forgo or take shortened vacations: 41

Percentage of workers who have not taken a vacation or have taken fewer days off because they were concerned about the amount of work that would await them when they returned: 41

Source: Accountemps.

On April 21, number of people, including the musical icon Prince, who reportedly died from prescription opioid overdose, according to research by the National Safety Council: 52

Estimated number of people who die every year from opioid overdoses: 19,000

Source: National Safety Council.

Rank of Las Vegas on the list of the most popular destinations searched on Expedia, whether in a stand-alone search for flights, hotel, car rentals or a money-saving package, according to Expedia travel analysts: 1

Ranks of Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, Los Angeles and San Diego on the Top 10 list of hotels sold over the last 10 years: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of Cancun, Mexico, on the list of the top international destinations for American travelers: 1

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of workers who have smartphones, according to a survey done on behalf of CareerBuilder: 83

Percentage of those with smartphones who keep them within eye contact at work: 82

Percentage of those with smartphones who say it's decreasing their productivity at work: 10

Percentage who say they use it (at least) several times a day while working: 66

Ranks of cellphone/texting and the internet on the list of the biggest productivity killers in the workplace cited by employers: 1, 2

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of senior managers who said employees wear less-formal clothing than they did five years ago, according to research from OfficeTeam: 50

Percentage of office workers who would prefer to be at a company with a business casual dress code: 31

Percentage who favor a casual dress code or no dress code at all: 27

Ranks of "wearing overly casual clothing" and "showing too much skin" on the list of the most common dress code violations: 1, 2

Source: OfficeTeam.

Among those who live with others, percentage of Americans who sit down to family dinner at least once a week, according to results of a Harris Poll: 87

Percentage of Americans who say cellphones don't belong at the dinner table: 90

Percentage who say they have made changes to make their family dinners healthier over the past couple of years: 79

Source: The Harris Poll and Nielsen.

Idle Thought

"I want people to talk to one another no matter what their difference of opinion might be." -- Studs Terkel, author and broadcaster

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

Percentage of time the average person spends indoors over the course of a typical week, according to a survey among homeowners conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Velux Skylights: 67

Percentage of Americans who say that having a healthy home is important to them because they know and recognize the benefits: 62

Percentage who say it enhances their mood: 58

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of CFOs who said the most difficult part of becoming a new manager is balancing individual responsibilities with time spent overseeing staff, according to a Robert Half Management Resources survey: 32

Percentage who said supervising friends or former peers is most difficult: 19

Ranks of motivating the team (17 percent), prioritizing projects (16 percent) and meeting higher performance expectations (16 percent) on the list of the biggest challenges for new managers: 3, 4 (tie)

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Average marrying age, according to the results of The Knot Real Weddings Study: bride, 29; groom, 31

Average number of guests at a typical wedding: 139

Average number of bridesmaids: 5

Average number of groomsmen: 5

Source: The Knot.

Percentage less interest charged on the average new-car loan than is charged on the average used-car loan, according to Wallet Hub's 2016 Auto Financing Report: 17

Number of times more that buyers with fair credit will end up spending to finance a vehicle -- about $6,304 in additional interest payments over the life of a $20,000, five-year loan -- than consumers with excellent credit: 6

Percentage below average charged to finance a new car through car manufacturers: 38

Source: WalletHub.

Average time it takes Americans to fully unpack all of their belongings when moving to a new home, according to a survey of U.S. adults conducted on behalf of Cramer-Krasselt: 2 months

Percentage of respondents who say they had everything fully unpacked within a week or less: 28

Percentage who say it took them up to a month to unpack: 36

Percentage who took between one and six months: 18

Source: Cramer-Krassel.

Percentage of employees who grade their bosses' performance as either an "A" or "B," according to a survey from CareerBuilder: 62

Percentage who would assign a grade of "C": 22

Percentage who grade their boss with a "D": 10

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of global citizens who are concerned that their information may be bought or sold online, according to a poll commissioned by the Centre for International Governance Innovation: 79

Percentage who are aware that companies often sell their personal data to other companies or government: 49

Percentage of global citizens who are more concerned about their online privacy compared to one year ago: 57

Source: Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Estimated percentage of small businesses that are in low-wealth communities, according to a report from The Association for Enterprise Opportunity: 43

Amount in annual revenue created by these businesses: $1.87 trillion

Of the 11.2 million small businesses in low-income communities, number that are microbusinesses: 10.2 million (90.7 percent)

Of the $1.87 trillion, amount generated by microbusinesses: $1.34 trillion

Source: Association for Enterprise Opportunity.

Year that Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, conceived the idea of Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon, according to the Census Bureau: 1909

Number of children her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran, was left to raise alone: 6

Date of the first Father's Day celebration proclaimed by Spokane's mayor because it was the month of Smart's birth: June 17, 1910

Year the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day: 1966

Source: Census Bureau.

Among retired U.S. adults without a pension, percentage who recommend that those younger than them save earlier in their career, according to a survey commissioned by Pentegra Retirement Services: 63

Percentage who suggest saving more throughout their career: 57

Source: Pentegra Retirement Services.

Idle Thought

"It is wrong always, everywhere and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." -- William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher

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

581-7323