Kelly hears an economist argue that organized labor lowers businesses' productivity. What is the most likely basis for the economist's argument?
A. Union workers do not put forth as much effort as non-union
workers.
B. Union organizing historically involved manufacturing jobs.
C. Union workers do not receive employee benefits.
D. Union pay tends to be higher than non-union pay for similar jobs.

D. Union pay tends to be higher than non-union pay for similar jobs.

Explanation:

Labor unions are always advocating for higher wages for their members.  As a result, organized labor is always paid higher wages than the market rates. The exorbitant wages and benefits that unionized workers get make the per-unit output of labor expensive. A company with union workers will pay higher wages per hour or per unit produced than a business that pays as per the market rates.

a manufacturer of printed circuit boards uses exponential smoothing with trend to forecast monthly demand of its product. at the end of december, the company wishes to forecast sales for january. the estimate of trend through november has been 200 additional boards sold per month. average sales have been around 1000 units per month. the demand for december was 1100 units. the company uses α = 0.20 and β = 0.10. make a forecast including trend for the month of january.