Final answer:
The correct slope of the company's employee growth after the first month is -12, indicating negative growth, as the number of employees decreased from 22 to 10.
Step-by-step explanation:
The slope of the growth of employees in a company can be calculated using the formula for slope, which is the change in y divided by the change in x. In this case, the company started with 22 employees and ended with 10, showing a decrease. Therefore, the change in employees (y) is 10 - 22, which equals -12. If we assume the change in time (x) is one month, the slope is -12/1, which simplifies to -12.
This is a negative growth, meaning the number of employees is decreasing rather than increasing. A positive slope indicates an upward trend, whereas a negative slope indicates a downward trend. In this scenario, the correct option is A) Slope = -12, Negative growth. A negative slope on a line graph would depict a line that tilts downward from left to right, showing the reduction in the count of employees over time.
Therefore, the slope is -12/1 = -12.
A negative slope indicates a decrease in the number of employees. In this case, it means that the company had a decrease of 12 employees after the first month. So, the answer is Slope = -12, Negative growth (option A).