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To find the percentage of employed women

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To find the percentage of employed women

by gmattesttaker2 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 4:36 pm
Hello,

Can you please assist with this:

Sixty percent of the population of town X are employed; of those employed 40% are
men, what percentage of the total population are employed women?

(A) 12
(B) 24
(C) 36
(D) 40
(E) 60

OA: C

My approach is as shown in the double set matrix.

I was thinking that 36 out of 60 are employed. Hence, out of 100, 60 are employed. Hence answer should be E. Can you please assist?

Thanks,
Sri
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by ganeshrkamath » Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:56 pm
gmattesttaker2 wrote:Hello,

Can you please assist with this:

Sixty percent of the population of town X are employed; of those employed 40% are
men, what percentage of the total population are employed women?

(A) 12
(B) 24
(C) 36
(D) 40
(E) 60

OA: C

My approach is as shown in the double set matrix.

I was thinking that 36 out of 60 are employed. Hence, out of 100, 60 are employed. Hence answer should be E. Can you please assist?

Thanks,
Sri
Percentage of population employed = 60%

Percentage of population employed that are men = 40% of 60% = 40/100 * 60% = 24%

Percentage of population employed that are women = 60% - 24% = 36%

Choose C

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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Jan 19, 2014 10:20 pm
gmattesttaker2 wrote:Hello,

Can you please assist with this:

Sixty percent of the population of town X are employed; of those employed 40% are
men, what percentage of the total population are employed women?

(A) 12
(B) 24
(C) 36
(D) 40
(E) 60

OA: C

My approach is as shown in the double set matrix.

I was thinking that 36 out of 60 are employed. Hence, out of 100, 60 are employed. Hence answer should be E. Can you please assist?

Thanks,
Sri
Your matrix looks great, but the phrase in red misinterprets it.
Your matrix indicates the following:
Of the 60 people WHO ARE EMPLOYED, 36 are WOMEN.
The question stem asks the following:
What percentage of the total population are employed women?
Since there are 36 employed women, and 100 people in total, (employed women)/(total population) = 36/100 = 36%.
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sun Jan 19, 2014 10:20 pm
gmattesttaker2 wrote:
I was thinking that 36 out of 60 are employed. Hence, out of 100, 60 are employed. Hence answer should be E. Can you please assist?

Thanks,
Sri
Sri, you have solved the question correctly but have misunderstood the question; the questions asks for the percentage of total population of employed women.

Total Population = 100
Employed Women = 36

So, Percentage = 36%

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