For each of the scenarios, please indicate whether there will be an increase or decrease in short-run aggregate supply or if there will be no change. a. The production of a new type of blade for combine harvesters, a tractor used to harvest crops, has allowed wheat farmers to increase productivity by 40%. b. The price of lumber, a commodity, rises drastically due to the effect of heavy winter weather in the American Northwest, where much of the world's lumber is grown. c. A major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico destroys several oil rigs.

Alamar petroleum company offers its employees the option of contributing retirement funds up to 5% of their wages or salaries, with the contribution being matched by alamar. the company also pays 80% of medical and life insurance premiums. deductions relating to these plans and other payroll information for the first biweekly payroll period of february are listed as follows: wages and salaries $ 2,800,000 employee contribution to voluntary retirement plan 92,000 medical insurance premiums 50,000 life insurance premiums 9,800 federal income taxes to be withheld 480,000 local income taxes to be withheld 61,000 payroll taxes: federal unemployment tax rate 0.60 % state unemployment tax rate (after futa deduction) 5.40 % social security tax rate 6.20 % medicare tax rate 1.45 % required: prepare the appropriate journal entries to record salaries and wages expense and payroll tax expense for the biweekly pay period. assume that no employee's cumulative wages exceed the relevant wage bases for social security, and that all employees' cumulative wages do exceed the relevant unemployment wage bases.