Final answer:
Technological progress increases real wages for high-skill workers and can also increase overall employment by creating new industries and opportunities. However, it might decrease employment for low-skill workers susceptible to automation. International trade generally increases job numbers by fostering market openness and specialization. Option B is correct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Technological progress tends to increase the real wage for workers who can complement the new technologies, like high-skill workers, by making them more productive. These workers are able to monitor more information, communicate more easily, and handle a greater variety of tasks. The increased productivity can lead to higher demand for these workers and thus higher wages.
On the other hand, for low-skill workers whose jobs can be easily automated or substituted with technology, technological progress may not lead to an increase in real wages and could potentially lead to decreases in employment in the sectors that are heavily affected by automation.
However, on aggregate, technological progress is generally seen as a factor that increases overall employment, as it can create new industries and opportunities even as it disrupts others. The increase in productivity and the potential for new markets and services often lead to more jobs overall.
Therefore, with respect to the overall labor market, technological progress is thought to increase employment, despite the complexity due to the substitution and income effects on labor supply and the varying impacts on different types of workers.
It's important to note that the impact of technological change on employment can also be moderated by a range of other economic factors, such as educational policies, investment in retraining programs, and labor market regulations, which can all help to ensure that workers are able to benefit from new technologies.
Regarding international trade, it has the potential to increase the total number of jobs by opening up new markets and creating opportunities for specialization according to comparative advantage. However, the effect of trade on job numbers can also be contingent upon the structure of the economies involved, the nature of the trade agreements, and the mobility of labor and capital between industries and countries.