A store reported total sales of $385 million for February of this year. If the total sales for the same month last year

[M7MBA]

A store reported total sales of $385 million for February of this year. If the total sales for the same month last year was $320 million, approximately what was the percent increase in sales?

(A) 2%
(B) 17%
(C) 20%
(D) 65%
(E) 83%

[spoiler]OA=C[/spoiler]

Source: Official Guide

[anonylfc]

The conventional method to do is to of course start calculating ->
=(385-320)*100/320
=65*100/320
=20.3%
Hence 20%

However, this is too time consuming . If you look closely this percentage is basically 60/300 , which is ~20% .

So you can straight away eliminate A,D,E .
We are now left with 17% and 20% . Now we will need to be a bit precise, but still is very doable for those with good mental maths.
=65*5= 325 which is higher than 320. Hence,
=(65/325)*100 = 100/5 =20%

But we need to find 65/320 which will be a bit higher than 20%. Hence we can safely rule out 17%.
Answer is 20%.

[Scott@TargetTestPrep]

A store reported total sales of $385 million for February of this year. If the total sales for the same month last year was $320 million, approximately what was the percent increase in sales?

(A) 2%
(B) 17%
(C) 20%
(D) 65%
(E) 83%

[spoiler]OA=C[/spoiler]

Source: Official Guide

Solution:

We can solve this problem by using the percent change formula:

(New Value – Old Value)/Old Value x 100

We are given:

February sales this year = 385 million = new

February sales last year = 320 million = old

Percent change = (New Value – Old Value)/Old Value x 100

Percent change = [(385 – 320)/320] x 100

Percent change = 65/320 x 100

Percent change = 13/64 x 100 ≈ 13/65 x 100 = 1/5 x 100 = 20%

Answer: C