labour force

BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

This topic has expert replies

Post new topic Post Reply

Previous Topic Next Topic

grandh01: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 265; Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:04 pm; Followed by:6 members

labour force

by grandh01 » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:20 pm

In year X, 8.7 percent of the men in
the labor force were unemployed in
June compared with 8.4 percent is
May. If the number of men in the
labor force was the same for both
months, how many men were
unemployed in June of that year?
(1) In May of year X, the number of
unemployed men in the labor
force was 3.36 million.
(2) In year X, 120,000 more men in
the labor force were unemployed
in June than in May.

oa is D

Quote

Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:20 pm

alex.gellatly: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 435; Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:27 am; Thanked: 48 times; Followed by:16 members

by alex.gellatly » Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:38 pm

grandh01 wrote:In year X, 8.7 percent of the men in
the labor force were unemployed in
June compared with 8.4 percent is
May. If the number of men in the
labor force was the same for both
months, how many men were
unemployed in June of that year?
(1) In May of year X, the number of
unemployed men in the labor
force was 3.36 million.
(2) In year X, 120,000 more men in
the labor force were unemployed
in June than in May.

The correct answer should be D and here is why:
In the question stem it tells us that the in June(J) the unemployment rate was 8.7% and in May(M) it was 8.4%, then it goes on to say that the population did not change. Now it wants to know how many people were unemployed in J. To find this we either need to know the total population, or how many people were unemployed in M.

Statement one tells us how many were unemployed in M, so this is sufficient.

Statement 2 tells us the total population, so this is sufficient.

Remember in DS questions we don't actually have to solve the problem, just stat that we CAN or CANNOT solve.

A useful website I found that has every quant OG video explanation:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/useful-websi ... tml#475231

Quote

GMAT/MBA Expert

Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8083; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

Re: labour force

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:50 am

grandh01 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:20 pm
In year X, 8.7 percent of the men in
the labor force were unemployed in
June compared with 8.4 percent is
May. If the number of men in the
labor force was the same for both
months, how many men were
unemployed in June of that year?
(1) In May of year X, the number of
unemployed men in the labor
force was 3.36 million.
(2) In year X, 120,000 more men in
the labor force were unemployed
in June than in May.

oa is D

Solution:

Question Stem Analysis:

We need to determine the number of men who were unemployed in June of year X. We can let m = the total number of men in the labor force in both June and May, then the number of men who were unemployed in June is 0.087m (and the number of men who were unemployed in May is 0.084m). We see that if we can determine the value of m, then we can determine the value of 0.087m, i.e., the number of men who were unemployed in June.

Statement One Alone:

We can create the equation 0.084m = 3,360,000, and thus we can determine the value of m and hence the value of 0.087m. Statement one alone is sufficient.

Statement Two Alone:

We can create the equation 0.087m - 0.084m = 120,000 and thus we can determine the value of m and hence the value of 0.087m. Statement two alone is sufficient.

Answer: D

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]