Estimated annual cost of influenza to U.S. employers in paid sick leave, according to a new study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas: $9.45 billion

Number of years in the past 21 years that February has had the most workplace absences: 9

MAKING THEIR MOVES

Rank of North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Nevada as the states with the highest inbound household moves in 2006, according to United Van Line's 30th annual migration study: 1, 2, 3, 4

Rank of North Dakota and Michigan (tie), New Jersey, and New York as the states with the highest outbound moves in 2006: 1 (tie), 3, 4

RESOLUTIONS FALTER

Percentage of Americans who find it difficult to stick to a New Year's resolution involving a budget, according to a study conducted by Kelton Research for Medifast: 45

Percentage of Americans who find it difficult to stick to a New Year's resolution involving a diet: 55

SNACK TIME

Average number of morning, afternoon and evening snacks a typical U.S. consumer eats in the course of a year, according to a study conducted by Datamonitor: 730

Total number of snacks a typical U.S. consumer ate in 2005: 775

ABUSIVE SHOPPERS

Percentage increase in acute-stress counseling sessions for retailers related to customer abuse in the United States since 2005, according to a study conducted by ComPsych: 124

CYBERSPACE KA-CHING

Estimated total value of online retail spending for 2006, according to a report released by comScore Networks: $102 billion

Ranks of Amazon, Dell, Yahoo, Wal-Mart and Ticketmaster among the top-grossing retail Web sites for the 2006 holiday season: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

WISTFUL IN WINTER

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they are usually in a better mood during the summer than during the winter, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Nature Made MoodPlus SAM-e: 64

Percentage of adults who try to lift their spirits by spending time with friends and/or family: 57

Percentage who combat the winter blues by going out: 51

Percentage who alleviate the doldrums by exercising: 43

GOOD OL' DAYS

Percentage of emerging company executives surveyed who believe it is more difficult to start a company today than it was a decade ago, according to a national survey conducted by Foley & Lardner LLP: 50

AUTO INSURANCE

Rank of claims/estimation (62 percent), body shop (36 percent) and rental car (2 percent) as the three factors that drive customer satisfaction with the collision-repair experience, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2006 Collision Repair Satisfaction Study: 1, 2, 3

Percentage of customers who chose not to file an insurance claim after their most recent collision because the deductible was more than repair costs, because of concern that the carrier would increase the premium, or at the advice of their insurance agent: 7

Percentage of respondents who did file a claim more than six months prior to being surveyed and indicated that their premium had not been raised: 62

RESTLESS WORKERS

Percentage of U.S. workers looking for a new job or planning to in the next 12 months, according to a survey by Yahoo! Hot Jobs: 49

Percentage who said they did not receive the bonus or raise they asked for in 2006: 75

Percentage who cited having to work on days off at least once a month: 51

Percentage who think they can get better salaries elsewhere: 25

IDLE THOUGHT

"Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none."

— Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author and inventor

Contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.