Figuratively Speaking

On Sept. 5, 1882, number of workers who took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history: 10,000

Year that Congress legalized a "workingmen's holiday" to be celebrated on the first Monday in September: 1894

Year the eight-hour workday became federal law in the U.S.: 1940

Estimated number of Americans who were working in some capacity in June 2022, up from 151.6 million at the same time in 2021: 158.1 million

Source: History.com.

Percentage of Americans who don't have health insurance, according to ValuePenguin: 8

Ranks of Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia on the list of states with the highest percentage of their citizens without health insurance: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: ValuePenguin.com.

Amount the average full-time wage or salary worker in the U.S. makes per week (5.2% higher than one year prior), according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics' analysis of the second quarter of 2022: $1,041

On average, amount men make per week, while women make $943 (or 82.4% of their male counterparts' average wage): $1,144

Number of hours per day the average American full-time employee works: 8.53

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Price for a Big Mac in Switzerland, making it the most expensive price in the world for a Big Mac: $6.71

Price for a Big Mac in the U.S.: $5.15

Price in the euro currency area: $4.77

Source: Statista.

Median cost of a funeral (including viewing and burial) in the U.S., according to Policygenius: $7,640

Ranks of Vermont, Utah, Idaho and Ohio as the best places to die, considering cost, palliative care, Medicare providers and probate shortcuts: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Policygenius.

Percentage of homes the Tooth Fairy visited across the country with children ages 6 to 12 who have lost teeth, according to poll released by Delta Dental: 79

Percentage of parents who said their kids waited patiently for their loose tooth to fall out: 61

Percentage who pulled out their own tooth: 18

Source: Delta Dental.

Percentage of U.S. retirees who say they would be motivated to rejoin the workforce if inflation continued to eat into their savings, according to the American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor online survey conducted by The Harris Poll: 30

Percentage of retirees who cited Social Security as their main source of income: 39

Percentage of current retirees who stated they are open to or actively looking for work: 14

Source: American Staffing Association.

Percentage of parents who are spending at least $200 per child this year on back-to-school shopping -- compared to only 29% in 2021, according to the new Debt.com poll: 45

Percentage who will spend more than $300 per child: 27

Ranks of buying generic or store-brand items, reusing old supplies and comparison shopping before buying on the list of the most popular ways to save this back-to-school season: 1, 2 (tie)

Source: Debt.com.

Projected number of hot dogs that were consumed per second in the unofficial summer season -- between Memorial Day and Labor Day -- according to research by WalletHub: 818

Amount Americans spent on hot dogs and sausages in supermarkets during 2021: $7.5 billion

Number of pounds of hot dogs consumed by Los Angeles residents per year, making it the No. 1 city for the hot dog consumption: 30 million

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"Fatigue is the best pillow." -- Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author and inventor (1706-1790)

Projected average spending for college students and their families on back-to-college items, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation: $1,199

Total expected spending on back-to-college items: $74 billion

Since 2019, growth in total expected spending on back-to-college items, with consumers spending $223 more on average than they were prior to the pandemic: $19 billion

Percentage of this increase that comes from spending on electronics and dorm or apartment furnishings: 50

Source: NRF.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who say they are making fewer impulse purchases in-store because of increased prices, according to a survey by Ipsos: 56

Percentage who still say, however, that they've made an impulse purchase within the past week: 33

Source: Ipsos.

Percentage of teens who say they would like to own a home someday, according to a survey by Junior Achievement USA and Fannie Mae: 88

Percentage who believe "owning a home" is part of "the good life," compared to 87% of adults who say the same, based on Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey: 85

Percentage who thought it would be helpful if schools offered lessons that explained homeownership, including mortgages: 97

Source: Junior Achievement.

Ranks of Nantucket, Massachusetts ($525); Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts ($485); Montauk, New York ($416); Long Beach Island, New Jersey ($384); and Bar Harbor, Maine ($383) on the list of the most expensive places to stay in the United States this summer, according to a survey by CheapHotels.org: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Cheaphotels.org.

Percentage increase in electric vehicle sales over the past year, according to research from Parks Associates: 85

Percentage growth in plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales in the same period: 138

Source: Parks Associates.

Amount the average American household owes to credit card companies, according to a WalletHub credit cards survey: $8,000

Number of Americans who have tried to get a credit card late fee waived: 118 million

Percentage of people who have tried to get a credit card late fee waived who were successful: 90

Source: WalletHub.

Ranks of emergency savings, not going into debt and having a steady job on the list of the most important financial lessons students have learned from the pandemic, according to CreditCard.com: 1, 2, 3

Source: CreditCards.com.

Among employed Americans, percentage who say that they are looking for a new job or are open to a new one, according to a survey commissioned by Justworks: 66

Percentage of U.S. employees who say that having health insurance that meets their specific needs is important to them when looking for a new job: 78

Percentage who say that they would be willing to sacrifice some pay for better health insurance, if they were looking for a new job: 64

Percentage who say that their company's health insurance offerings impact how much they want to keep working there: 63

Source: Justworks.

Percentage of Americans who say they've seen an increase in aggressive driving during the pandemic, according to a survey by Yougov: 30

Percentage who said they have witnessed incidents of angry driving firsthand during this same time frame: 57

Source: YouGov.

Idle Thought

"People's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive." -- Haruki Murakami, writer (1949- )

Number of smart tags, which consumers use to track valuables, pets and even other people, that will be sold in the U.S. by 2027, an increase from almost 16 million in 2022, according to Parks Associates: 95 million

Percentage of current smart tag owners who reported using the device to track another person without that person's knowledge: 32

Source: Parks Associates.

With almost 3 billion monthly active users on Facebook worldwide, rank of India (with almost 330 million users) on the list of Facebook's leading audiences by nation: 1

Approximate number of users Facebook has in the U.S. -- for second place on the list: 180 million

Source: Statista.

Percentage of Americans who say they are trying to lose weight or get fit, according to a survey by Value Penguin: 46

Percentage who are trying to maintain their current weight and/or level of fitness: 27

Source: ValuePenguin.com.

Percentage of professionals who say they are equally productive in the home or in the office, according to a survey by Robert Half: 21

Percentage who say they are more productive at home: 35

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of American journalists who say made-up news and information is a very big problem for the country, according to a survey by Pew Research: 71

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of consumers who said they are cutting back in other spending areas to cover the cost of items for the upcoming school year, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation: 38

Total back-to-school spending: $37 billion

Projected total back-to-college spending, up from last year's record of $71 billion and the highest in the survey's history: $74 billion

Source: NRF.

Percentage of workers who report that they receive feedback on annual or semi-annual basis, while 8% say they never receive feedback on their work, according to research from Eagle Hill Consulting: 48

Percentage who want more immediate "in the moment" feedback on their work performance: 63

Percentage of hybrid workers who said getting feedback was a challenge, while 21% of fully remote and 19% of in-person workers reported feedback as a challenge: 38

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting.

Percentage of Americans who agree climate change will alter important aspects of life in the U.S., such as agriculture, according to a poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the Walton Family Foundation: 76

Percentage of Americans who are worried about climate change and water scarcity: 73

Source: Walton Family Foundation.

Percentage of parents who say their child's education is worth going into debt for, according to a WalletHub's 2022 back-to-school report: 70

Percentage who think financial literacy should be part of the core curriculum: 68

Percentage who think all school districts should get the same amount of funding per student: 80

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of currently enrolled undergraduate students who say they had plans to study abroad but were unable to due to circumstances caused by COVID-19, according to a survey from Bestcolleges.com: 29

Percentage who believe participating in a study abroad program is only feasible for the privileged: 49

Of the 71% of college students did not have plans to study abroad, percentage who said their top reason for not participating was cost: 53

Source: BestColleges.

Idle Thought

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." -- William James, psychologist (1842-1910)