Percentage of U.S. adults who say they worry "frequently" or "occasionally" about being a victim of identity theft, higher than reported anxiety about 11 other types of crime and the only crime that a majority worry about at least occasionally, according to a Gallup Poll: 66

Percentage of Americans who worry frequently or occasionally about having their cars stolen or broken into: 47

Percentage who worry about having their homes burglarized when they are not there: 46

IT'S THE SEASON

Percentage decrease in the number of hourly seasonal jobs this year as opposed to 2007, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll conducted on behalf of www.Snagajob.com: 45

Hourly wage that hiring managers expect to pay this year compared to $10 last year: $10.40

Percentage of their seasonal hires that managers will ask to stay on after the holiday season is over: 51

CAREER CHANGE

Percentage of employees who are considering changing jobs in the next 12 months, according to a Work Watch Survey conducted by Randstad: 12

Percentage of employees who expressed feeling envious of those who have left their organization: 12

GOING HIGH-TECH

For the first time in U.S. history, estimated record number of checks and electronic transactions for debit cards, credit cards and automatic payments by the end of 2009, according to Moebs Services: 100 billion

Percentage of these transactions that will be debit card transactions: 33

Percentage that will be paper checks: 24

Percentage that will be credit card transactions: 23

Percentage that will be ACH (automatic payments): 20

Percentage of all banks and credit unions that have income from overdraft fees that is greater than their net income: 44.5

Percentage of all financial institutions that allow consumers to overdraw their accounts at an ATM or with a debit card, charging a median of $26 for this service: 35

THE HEALTH FRONT

Percentage of U.S. adults who report that at least one member of their immediate family lost health insurance coverage within the past year, according to a Zogby Interactive poll: 26

Percentage of those in households earning $35,000 and less who report having a family member lose health insurance coverage: 37

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