U.S. Workers

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U.S. Workers

by harsh.champ » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:47 am
It is a myth that U.S. workers are pricing themselves out of the market. The wages of U.S. manufacturing workers increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than those of workers in other major countries. Between 1970 and 1980, pay increased 489% in Japan and 464% in Germany, compared to 128% in the United States. Even though these countries experienced faster productivity growth, their unit labor costs still rose faster than in the United States. During the 1970's, unit labor costs rose 192% in Japan, 252% in Germany, and only 78% in the United States.
According to the above passage:

A. unit labor costs in the 1970's were higher in Japan than they were in Germany or the United States
B. the wages of U.S. workers need to be increased to be consistent with other countries.
C. U.S. workers are more productive than Japanese or German workers
D. the wages of U.S. workers in manufacturing increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than the wages of workers in Japan
or Germany
E. Workers in Japan and Germany work harder than workers in the U.S., and their wages have increased accordingly.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by komal » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:32 am
harsh.champ wrote:It is a myth that U.S. workers are pricing themselves out of the market. The wages of U.S. manufacturing workers increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than those of workers in other major countries. Between 1970 and 1980, pay increased 489% in Japan and 464% in Germany, compared to 128% in the United States. Even though these countries experienced faster productivity growth, their unit labor costs still rose faster than in the United States. During the 1970's, unit labor costs rose 192% in Japan, 252% in Germany, and only 78% in the United States.
According to the above passage:

A. unit labor costs in the 1970's were higher in Japan than they were in Germany or the United States
B. the wages of U.S. workers need to be increased to be consistent with other countries.
C. U.S. workers are more productive than Japanese or German workers
D. the wages of U.S. workers in manufacturing increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than the wages of workers in Japan
or Germany
E. Workers in Japan and Germany work harder than workers in the U.S., and their wages have increased accordingly.
My pick is (C)

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by dmitriyaleyev » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:42 am
D

it states specifically that labor costs growth was slower in the U.S. than other countries such as Japan.

C is wrong because the fact that unit costs are higher or wage growth is higher in other countries DOESN'T mean productivity is higher.

E.g. it costs 10 dollars to produce a phone in the U.S. and 1 dollar in China
U.S. grew 10 perc and China 200 - now the price is 11 in the U.S. and 2 in China.
Now it may take 10 ppl to produce one phone in the U.S. and 100 ppl in China. We don't know all that.
C is wrong.

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by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:45 am
D is the only answer that has to be true according to the stimulus

A- You can't make any conclusions on the actual cost when you are only given percentages

B- This isn't supported by the passage

C- Productivity is never discussed

D- Correct

E- This cannot be determined by the passage, and something like this would probably never be the correct answer on the GMAT.
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by hrishi19884 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:58 am
harsh.champ wrote:It is a myth that U.S. workers are pricing themselves out of the market. The wages of U.S. manufacturing workers increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than those of workers in other major countries. Between 1970 and 1980, pay increased 489% in Japan and 464% in Germany, compared to 128% in the United States. Even though these countries experienced faster productivity growth, their unit labor costs still rose faster than in the United States. During the 1970's, unit labor costs rose 192% in Japan, 252% in Germany, and only 78% in the United States.
According to the above passage:

A. unit labor costs in the 1970's were higher in Japan than they were in Germany or the United States
B. the wages of U.S. workers need to be increased to be consistent with other countries.
C. U.S. workers are more productive than Japanese or German workers
D. the wages of U.S. workers in manufacturing increased at a slower rate in the 1970's than the wages of workers in Japan
or Germany
E. Workers in Japan and Germany work harder than workers in the U.S., and their wages have increased accordingly.
"pay increased 489% in Japan and 464% in Germany, compared to 128% in the United States." this statement is enough to give you the answer. The conclusion for this statement is D. Hence D is the answer.
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by joseph32 » Sun May 15, 2016 11:13 pm
I believe the answer should be C