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The table shows average annual percent changes in various categories related to productivity for industries in the Transportation and Warehousing sectors of the economy of Country C for the period 1987–2008 (or designated part thereof).
| Industry | Industry sector | Hourly output | Total output | Hours worked | Labor cost | Unit labor cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air transportation | T | 2.9 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 2.9 | -0.2 |
| Couriers and messengers | W | -0.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| Freight trucking, local | T | 3.1 | 4 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 0.4 |
| Freight trucking, long distance | T | 1.3 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.2 |
| General warehousing and storage | W | 5 | 8.5 | 3.3 | 6.7 | -1.6 |
| Line-haul railroads | T | 4.2 | 2.2 | -1.9 | 1.2 | -1 |
| Postal service | T | 0.9 | 0.7 | -0.2 | 4.1 | 3.3 |
| Refrigerated warehousing and storage | W | -0.3 | 3 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 1.8 |
| Used household and office goods moving | T | -0.6 | -0.2 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.7 |
For each of the following statements, select Yes if the statement is accurate based on the information provided; otherwise select No.
Among the industries represented in the table, the freight trucking industries were the only industries to experience positive average annual percent change in every statistical category.
The 3 industries experiencing the greatest average annual percent increase in hourly output were all within the Transportation sector.
For every industry in the Warehousing sector, average annual percent increases for labor cost indicated in the table were greater than for any industry in the Transportation sector.
Let's begin by understanding what we're working with. This table shows percentage changes in various metrics across transportation (T) and warehousing (W) industries.
Key observations to help us solve efficiently:
Instead of trying to memorize all 45 data points (\(9 \times 5\) metrics), let's use strategic sorting to quickly find patterns and answers.
Statement 2 Translation:
Original: "The industry with the highest percentage increase in hourly output was in the warehousing (W) sector."
What we're looking for:
In other words: Is the industry with the highest hourly output increase a warehousing company?
Let's tackle this statement first since it requires just a single sort operation.
Step 1: Sort the table by "Hourly output" column (in descending order)
After sorting, we can immediately see the top 3 performers:
Result: The highest hourly output increase is indeed from a warehousing industry (General warehousing at \(5.0\%\)).
Statement 2 is YES.
Teaching Note: Notice how sorting instantly revealed our answer without requiring us to scan through all 9 industries. When faced with "highest" or "lowest" questions, sorting is almost always the fastest approach.
Statement 3 Translation:
Original: "Every industry in the warehousing (W) sector had a higher percentage increase in labor cost than every industry in the transportation (T) sector."
What we're looking for:
In other words: Do all warehousing industries show bigger labor cost increases than any transportation industry?
Let's sort by the "Labor cost" column to quickly see the pattern.
Step 1: Sort the table by "Labor cost" column (in descending order)
After sorting, we can see the industries arranged from highest to lowest labor cost increase:
Key Pattern: All the warehousing (W) industries are clustered at the top of the sorted list, above all transportation (T) industries.
Result: Every industry in the warehousing sector did indeed have a higher percentage increase in labor cost than every industry in the transportation sector.
Statement 3 is YES.
Teaching Note: This is where sorting truly transforms the problem. Instead of manually comparing each W industry against each T industry (which would require many comparisons), sorting created a visual pattern that answered our question instantly.
Statement 1 Translation:
Original: "The freight trucking industries were the only industries that had positive percentage changes in all five metrics."
What we're looking for:
In other words: Did only the freight trucking companies show increases in all categories?
Instead of checking every single value (which would be time-consuming), let's use an elimination strategy.
Step 1: Hunt for negatives by sorting each column one by one.
Let's sort each column and note which industries show negative values:
Hourly output (sorted):
Total output (sorted):
Hours worked (sorted):
Unit labor cost (sorted):
Result of elimination: Only the local freight trucking and long-distance freight trucking industries never appear with negative values. These are the only two industries with positive percentage changes across all five metrics.
Statement 1 is YES.
Teaching Note: When looking for items that meet multiple criteria, elimination is often faster than verification. Each negative value we found immediately removed an industry from consideration, saving us from having to check all 45 data points.
Evaluating all three statements:
The correct answer is: All statements are yes.
Next time you face a table analysis question, remember to sort first, eliminate where possible, and look for patterns that emerge after sorting. These techniques transform complex data verification tasks into quick visual assessments.
Among the industries represented in the table, the freight trucking industries were the only industries to experience positive average annual percent change in every statistical category.
The 3 industries experiencing the greatest average annual percent increase in hourly output were all within the Transportation sector.
For every industry in the Warehousing sector, average annual percent increases for labor cost indicated in the table were greater than for any industry in the Transportation sector.