Posted on: Sunday, September 16, 2007
Thousands of entrepreneurs born every day in U.S.
Compiled by John MacIntyre
Number of people who go into business for themselves every day in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 2,356
Number of Americans who are now self-employed: 20.4 million
Rank of Web search portals (41.2 percent annual jump) as the fastest growing self-employment sector: 1
GLOBAL IDEAS
Percentage of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006 in which foreign nationals residing in the United States were named as inventors or co-inventors, according to a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: 25.6
Percentage of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006 in which the inventor or co-inventor is a person with an Indian-heritage name: 13.7
Percentage of international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006 in which the inventor or co-inventor is a person with a Chinese-heritage name: 16.8
THE COST OF STRESS
Percentage of employees who say they lose at least 15 to 30 minutes per day in productivity because of stress, according to a study conducted by ComPsych: 35
Percentage who say they lose an hour or more: 42
Percentage of employees who say that their productivity is unaffected by stress: 23
NOT MY ELECTRIC BILL ...
Percentage of U.S. employees who say they turn off the light when leaving a room at work, according to a study conducted by Sun Microsystems: 52
Percentage of U.S. employees who say they turn off lights when leaving a room at home: 92
Percentage of U.S. employees who say they turn off their computers when leaving work: 34
Percentage who say they do the same at home: 58
WORKER VALUE
Rank of U.S. workers among developed nations with the highest labor productivity, according to a study conducted by the International Labor Organization: 1
Total value an average U.S. worker produces per year: $63,885
Average number of hours put in each year by a worker in the United States: 1,804
SURFING U.S.A.
Percentage of Americans who spend six or more hours each day on the Internet, according to a survey conducted by IBM: 26
Percentage of Americans who spend one to four hours on the Internet: 54
CELL OR LANDLINE?
Percentage of U.S. households that have at least one cell phone, according to a study conducted by Mediamark Research: 86.2
Percentage of U.S. households that have at least one landline: 84.5
OUR CONFESSIONS
Percentage of U.S. workers who admit to falling asleep at work, according to a survey conducted by www.careerbuilder.com: 45
Percentage of U.S. workers who admit to kissing a co-worker: 39
IDLE THOUGHT
"Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others."
— Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Contact John MacIntyre at john macintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.
