Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of U.S. workers who feel they have just a job, not a career, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 55

Percentage of these workers who are likely to change jobs in the second half of 2017: 38

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Amount of Americans' outstanding credit card debt, a new record, according to the Federal Reserve: $1.0217 trillion

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of millennial women who said they feel the need to downplay the time and effort they put into their look, according to a survey of millennial women by TRESemme: 70

Percentage of women who feel there is a stereotype about women who spend time on their appearance: 68

Source: TRESemme.

Percentage of Americans who say they have signed up for a subscription or membership, such as a gym, that enrolled them in an automatic payment plan without even realizing it, according to a study by CreditCards.com: 35

When respondents found themselves in this situation, percentage who kept the autopay turned on: 11

Percentage who found it easy to cancel an automatic payment: 47

Source: Creditcards.com.

Percentage increase in healthy food consumption when families share home-cooked dinners, according to research by the FMI Foundation: 24

Average number of times per week that parents eat home-cooked dinners with their child or spouse: 3.5

Rank of "differing schedules" on the list of obstacles for missed family meals: 1

Source: FMI Foundation.

Percentage less interest charged for the average new car loan than the average used car loan this year, according to Wallet Hub: 16

Compared with buyers who have excellent credit, amount more that those with fair credit will spend in interest (about five times more), over the life of a five-year, $20,000 loan when financing a vehicle: $6,282

Ranks of car manufacturers (rates 44 percent below average) credit unions (21 percent below average) as the best options for financing a new car: 1,2

Ranks of regional banks (25 percent above average) and national banks (10 percent above average) on the list of the less favorable options for financing a new car: 1, 2

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of teens who anticipate working a part-time job while attending college, while only 49 percent of college students or recent graduates actually had one while in college, according to a survey by Ameritrade: 58

Percentage of teens who expect to help pay for college with scholarships or grants: 49

Percentage of teens who say they will take or have taken part in a work-study program: 59

Source: TD Ameritrade.

When Americans were asked to list the world's top cities, ranks of New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Sydney and Rome: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Global Public Affairs.

Percentage of tutors aged 50-plus who cited a desire to share their accumulated knowledge as their No. 1 motivation, according to a survey by Wyzant: 73

Percentage who said they tutored for the money: 59

Source: Wyzant.

When asked if they had auto, health or home insurance, percentage of Americans who say they have at least two of these, according to a survey by Harris Poll on behalf of OneAmerica: 80

Source: The Harris Poll.

Idle thought

"What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give." -- P.D. James, novelist

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

Percentage of executives who said they would disregard a job candidate if they found a typo or bad grammar in the candidate's resume, according to a survey conducted by the Futurestep division of Korn Ferry: 10

Percentage who said they would keep the candidate in the pool, but with reservations: 46

Percentage of executives who said the most important information on a resume is the candidate's experience that is relevant to the position: 83

Percentage of respondents who said short tenure or "job hopping" matters to some or a great extent: 87

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Percentage of workers who said they have regrets about leaving their former job, according to a survey from staffing firm Accountemps: 23

Percentage who said they regret leaving friends and colleagues: 28

Percentage who said they departed for the wrong reasons: 27

Percentage who said they regret having to say goodbye to a great boss or mentor: 20

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of people (48 percent of males and 39 percent of females) who said they had participated in an interracial sexual relationship, according to a survey by adamandeve.com: 42

Percentage of respondents (70 percent of females and 58 percent of males) who said they feel there is still a stigma associated with interracial relationships: 64

Percentage of respondents who said they were open to dating outside their race: 79

Source: Adam & Eve.

Percentage of U.S. workers who are living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet -- up from 75 percent last year -- according to CareerBuilder research: 78

Percentage of all workers who say they're in debt -- up from 68 percent last year: 71

Percentage who say their debt is manageable: 46

Percentage of those in debt who say they feel they will always be in debt: 56

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Of the five most valuable college majors, number that are engineering degrees, according to a report from TheCashlorette.com: 4

Rank of petroleum engineering, boasting the highest median income ($134,840.88) and an elite 2.38 percent unemployment rate (13th overall), on the list of the most valuable majors: 1

Ranks of pharmaceutical sciences/administration, geological/geophysical engineering, mining/mineral engineering and naval architecture/marine engineering on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of clinical psychology, miscellaneous fine arts, composition/rhetoric, human services/community organization, and studio arts on the list of the least valuable college majors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Of the top-10 bachelor's degrees, number that are STEM majors: 10

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of all fatal car crashes -- totaling 6,400 deaths each year -- that are attributed to a drowsy driver, according to a study by the National Safety Council: 21

Percentage of Americans who work high-risk hours, at least occasionally: 41

Percentage who have trouble remembering things at work because of fatigue: 39

Percentage who commute 30 minutes or more, exacerbating the chances of falling asleep behind the wheel: 31

Source: National Safety Council.

After getting through back-to-school season, percentage of parents who will enjoy using free time to go shopping for themselves, according to a survey by RetailMeNot and Kelton Global: 44

Percentage who will go to lunch with their friends: 43

While their kids hit the books, percentage of parents who will utilize their free time by exercising: 35

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Percentage of HR professionals who are fully confident in their employer's overall ability to effectively assess the skills of entry-level applicants, including dependability and reliability, integrity, respect and teamwork, according to a survey by SHRM/Mercer: 20

Percentage of HR professionals who have little or no confidence in the application and resume reviews used for screening entry-level job candidates: 50

Source: Mercer.

Average amount that teenagers will contribute toward back-to-school costs this year -- up from last year's $32.90 -- according to a survey by the National Retail Federation: $37.64

Average amount that pre-teens will contribute, up from last years $20.08: $27.09

Source: NRF.

Starting price for a full pass to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, according to WalletHub: $2,125

Total purse for the U.S. Open: $46.3 million

Year that the U.S. Open became the first major to pay men's and women's champions equally (this year, the winner's share is $3.5 million): 1973

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"Literature encourages tolerance -- bigots and fanatics seldom have any use for the arts, because they're so preoccupied with their beliefs and actions that they can't see them also as possibilities." -- Northrop Frye, writer and critic

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

Percentage of side hustlers (those who have a job on the side) who do it at least monthly, according to a Bankrate.com report: 86

Percentage of those who earn more than an additional $500 per month doing so: 36

Of those who earn money on the side, percentage who use the extra cash to help pay for expenses, rather than as disposable income for other things: 54

Source: Bankrate.com.

Projected total spending for all school and college supplies combined, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics: $83.6 billion

Average amount that families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend: $687.72

Source: NRF.

Percentage of workers who said they know someone who included false information on a resume, a 25-point jump from a 2011 survey, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 46

Ranks of job experience and duties on the list of the areas most frequently embellished: 1, 2

Percentage of senior managers who suspect candidates often stretch the truth on resumes: 53

Source: OfficeTeam.

Ranks of Utah, Iowa, South Carolina, Washington and Nebraska on the list of the best states in which to grow old, according to a Caring.com study with emphasis on financial, health care and quality-of-life categories focused on senior care: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Wyoming, North Dakota, New York, Indiana and West Virginia on the list of the worst states: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Caring.com.

Percentage of Americans who say no amount of money -- not even $10,000 -- makes up for getting bumped from a flight, according to a new survey from PolicyGenius.com: 20.7

Percentage who said they required between $2,000 and $10,000 to feel compensated for the inconvenience: 49

Percentage who said any amount below $2,000 wasn't worth the hassle: 70

Source: PolicyGenius.

Percentage of the U.S. general population who could name a food or nutrient associated with their most desired health benefit, according to research by the International Food Information Council: 44

Percentage of "foodies" -- defined as someone who sacrifices convenience and cost in search of a quality product -- who were able to do so: 60

Source: IFIC.

Percentage of Americans who report they aren't getting the sleep they need, according to the results of a survey by Wakefield Research for Princess Cruises: 49

Percentage who say they don't set aside time to relax each day: 78

Source: Princess Cruises.

Percentage of consumers who use their personal smartphones to conduct business, according to research by Strategy Analytics: 50.4

Percentage of business users who utilize their personal smartphone over 50 percent of the time to conduct business: 20.5

Percentage of business users who are compensated by their employer for their network wireless operator charges: 20.8

Source: Strategy Analytics.

Percentage of homebuyers who would be willing to sacrifice a larger house to gain a larger yard, according to a 2017 consumer survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Taylor Morrison: 56

Rank of "distance from neighboring homes" on the list of the most important exterior features of a home: 1

Source: Taylor Morrison.

Percentage of American consumers who believe seafood is important to their health and nutrition, according to a 2017 Cargill Feed4Thought consumer survey: 72

Percentage who are willing to pay more for seafood that is certified as sustainably and responsibly sourced: 88

Percentage who are adding salmon, shrimp and tilapia to their lunch and dinner plates: 82

Source: Cargill.

Idle Thought

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?" -- Jean Cocteau, author and painter

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