By G. SCOTT THOMAS
sthomas@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1618

If you're a woman and today is your 50th birthday, you can look forward to 32.48 more years of life.

But if you're a man of the same age, your predicted life span is considerably shorter. You can expect to live another 28.78 years.

Those figures come from the latest comprehensive life-expectancy tables released by the National Center for Health Statistics. The center analyzed mortality data from 2006 and generated year-by-year charts for females and males, showing the likelihood of dying at any given age, as well as the average number of years of life remaining. The predicted life spans for newborns, according to the center, are 80.20 years for females, 75.13 years for males and 77.71 years for both genders combined.

Go to http://tinyurl.com/on-numbers for a relevant database developed by On Numbers. It contains the life-expectancy rates for each age from zero to 100. (You can also find databases for the items below at the same website.)

We're No. 3! We're No. 3!

The United States ranks third in world population - and seems likely to hold that position for decades to come.

New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau put China in the lead with 1.34 billion residents, followed by India with 1.19 billion. The United States is a distant third with 311.1 million people.

Rounding out the top five are Indonesia (245.6 million) and Brazil (203.4 million).

The Census Bureau has issued world population estimates for more than half a century, based on current fertility, mortality and migration rates, as well as future projections.

The bureau envisions India taking the worldwide lead by 2050, when its estimated population will be 1.66 billion. The comparable 2050 projections for China and the United States are 1.30 billion and 422.6 million, respectively.

Madison has best long-term job picture

Madison, Wis., enjoys the best employment record of any metropolitan area in the 21st century.

On Numbers compiled the 137 monthly unemployment reports that have been issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics since January 2000. Madison's median jobless rate over that span was 3.5 percent, the lowest figure among the nation's 100 biggest metros. Honolulu and Washington (3.7 percent) were the runners-up.

Madison's unemployment rate was 5 percent or less during 110 of the 137 months. The only places to do better in that category were Omaha (119 months at 5 percent or less) and Honolulu (111 months).

At the opposite end of the scale is Fresno, Calif., with a median 2000-11 unemployment rate of 10.7 percent. Fresno spent 79 months with a rate of 10 percent or more, easily the highest total in the nation. Next was Modesto, Calif., at 59 months.

Buffalo's median unemployment rate for the 137-month period was 5.5 percent. Buffalo was at or below 5 percent in 41 different months, but it never reached double digits. Its highest jobless rate was 9.6 percent.

One-third of owners work overtime

About one-third of the nation's entrepreneurs are working overtime.

A new U.S. Census Bureau survey of 20.4 million business owners found that 11.8 percent are on the job for 60 or more hours per week. Another 19.1 percent work 41 to 59 hours.

That means 30.9 percent are devoting more than the typical 40 hours per week.

But an even larger group of owners spends less than half of the typical workweek at their companies: 30.1 percent put in one to 19 hours weekly, and another 10.9 percent don't go to their businesses at all.