China sees more billionaires

Number of billionaires on Forbes' 2006 list of the 400 richest Chinese citizens: 15

Number of billionaires on the 2005 list: 10

Number of billionaires on the 2004 list: 3

Source: Forbes.com.

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Percentage of U.S. full-time workers who have gone to work while sick, according to the "Sick at Work" study: 98

Source: Kronos Inc.

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Percentage of U.S. workers who say they would consider dating a co-worker, according to a survey: 39

Percentage of U.S. workers who say they have dated a co-worker: 39

Percentage of female U.S. workers who say they would consider dating a co-worker: 30

Percentage of male U.S. workers who say the same: 47

Source: Spherion

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Amount of money consumers spent between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006, at the top 250 retailers in the world, according a report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in conjunction with STORES magazine: $3.01 trillion

Spending rate per minute this represents: $5.4 million

Rank of Wal-Mart (U.S.A.), Carrefour (France), Home Depot (U.S.A.), Metro (Germany) and Tesco (U.K.) as the top five retailers in the world: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

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Percentage of consumers who are willing to use time-saving self-service alternatives to help reduce their wait times, according to a survey conducted for NCR Corp. by Opinion Research Corp.: 39

Rank of waiting at a division of motor vehicles office, waiting to make purchases at retail outlets and registering at clinics or hospitals on respondents' list of their "wait we hate the most": 1, 2, 3

Percentage of consumers who said their frustration with waiting for service or waiting in line was the lack of employees able to assist them: 44

Source: NCR Corp.