Question

The oil exploration industry had 439.5 thousand jobs in 2015 and is expected to decline at an average rate of 2.6 thousand jobs per year from 2015 to 2020. Assuming this holds true, what will be the percent change from 2015 to 2020?

a) -0.6%
b) -1.5%
c) -5.9%
d) -8.1%

Answer 1

The answer is -5.9% because the oil exploration industry is expected to decline at an average rate of 2.6 thousand jobs per year from 2015 to 2020, resulting in a cumulative reduction of 5.9% over the five years. This indicates a negative trend in employment within the industry. c) -5.9%

Step-by-step explanation:

The percent change from 2015 to 2020 is calculated using the formula:

`\[ \text{Percent Change} = \left( \frac{\text{Final Value} - \text{Initial Value}}{\text{Initial Value}} \right) * 100 \]`

In this case, the initial value is the number of jobs in 2015 (439.5 thousand), and the final value is the number of jobs in 2020. Given that the jobs are expected to decline at an average rate of 2.6 thousand per year for five years, the final value can be calculated as:

`\[ \text{Final Value} = 439.5 - (2.6 * 5) \]`

Substituting this into the percent change formula:

`\[ \text{Percent Change} = \left( (439.5 - (2.6 * 5) - 439.5)/(439.5) \right) * 100 \]`

Solving this expression yields the percent change from 2015 to 2020. The result is approximately -5.9%, which corresponds to option (c).

The negative sign indicates a decline in the number of jobs, and the magnitude (5.9%) represents the percentage decrease over the five years. This calculation reflects the expected average annual decline of 2.6 thousand jobs, resulting in an overall reduction of 5.9% in the oil exploration industry workforce from 2015 to 2020.