Land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Welders' labor market in a made-up town

   Wage per hour	Welders wanted before	Welders wanted after	Welders offered before	Welders offered after
   $16	130	160	70	100
   $18	115	145	85	115
   $20	100	130	100	130
   $22	85	115	115	145
   $24	70	100	130	160

   Note: The towns are made up. Card A: Welders are hired in a labor market where the wage is the price. Before any change, firms want 100 welders and 100 welders offer to work at $20 an hour. Card B: A new factory opens and raises the number of welders firms want at every wage (the 'wanted after' column). Card C: A training program raises the number of welders offered at every wage (the 'offered after' column). Card D: In a second town, a hospital opens and raises the demand for nurses, and a nursing school graduates more nurses. The sizes of the two changes are not given.

2. 1.

   Suppose only the factory opens and there is no training program. What does the schedule predict for the wage and employment, Bo asks?

   • The wage falls to $18, because firms compete for welders and the competition bids pay lower
   • The wage rises to $24, the top of the chart, since firms now want 130 welders at $20 an hour
   • The wage stays at $20 and employment rises to 130, as it does with both changes together
   • The wage rises to $22 and employment to 115, where wanted-after and offered-before both equal 115
3. 2.

   A reporter writes that the factory raised welders' pay. Esme checks cards B and C and the chart. Which statement about the report is best supported?

   • Supported: the factory raised the number wanted at each wage, and more wanted means higher pay
   • Not supported: employment stayed at 100 welders, and the hourly wage was what changed in the end
   • Supported: at $22 firms want 115 welders, more than the 100 who were offered before the factory
   • Not supported: with the training program too, the wage is still $20; employment rose, not pay
4. 3.

   In card D's town, Jun predicts the nurse market after the hospital and the school both act. Which prediction is certain?

   • The wage will rise, because the hospital's demand is the stronger of the two forces at work
   • More nurses will be employed, but the wage may rise, fall or stay the same
   • The number employed cannot be told, because the two changes pull the wage in opposite directions
   • The wage will fall, because the school adds nurses and extra workers cost less to hire
5. 4.

   Later data show the school added many more nurses than the hospital added jobs. What follows for the wage and employment, Kira asks?

   • Employment falls, because a lower wage makes fewer nurses willing to work in the town
   • The wage falls and employment rises, because the gain in supply outweighs the gain in demand
   • The wage is unchanged, because the hospital's gain and the school's gain cancel in the wage
   • The wage rises, because the hospital also raised demand for nurses and demand sets the price
6. 5.

   Luz imagines new events in card D's town. Which pair would raise nurses' wages whatever the sizes of the changes?

   • The hospital adds jobs while many nurses move away: demand up and supply down
   • The hospital closes while the school graduates a bigger class: fewer jobs and more nurses push pay up
   • The hospital closes while many nurses move away: both shrink employment, so pay must rise
   • The hospital adds jobs while the school graduates more nurses: demand rises, so pay rises with it

7. Employee pay as a share of gross domestic income, 2019 to 2025

   Year	Compensation of employees (percent of GDI)
   2019	53.3
   2020	54.6
   2021	53.0
   2022	51.7
   2023	51.5
   2024	51.4
   2025	50.9

   Note: BEA data as listed by FRED (series A4002E1A156NBEA), retrieved Nov 14, 2026. Gross domestic income (GDI) adds up the incomes earned in producing GDP: pay to employees, profits, interest, rent and other income, plus taxes on production and depreciation (in our words). Compensation of employees counts wages, salaries and employer-paid benefits and payroll taxes. Card B: BEA, national income, compensation of employees, in billions of dollars: 2022, 13,447.8; 2023, 14,234.5; 2024, 15,041.7. Card C: A commentator writes that machines are taking over from workers, so workers' pay is shrinking.

8. 6.

   Noah compares 2022 with 2024 using the chart and card B. Which statement is best supported?

   • Compensation grew about 12 percent, so employees' share of income must have risen as well
   • The falling share shows that average pay per worker rose less than prices did over the two years
   • Because the share slipped from 51.7 to 51.4, total pay to employees fell between 2022 and 2024
   • Compensation grew about 12 percent over the two years while its share slipped from 51.7 to 51.4
9. 7.

   A commentator (card C) says machines are taking over and pay is shrinking. Ren tests the claim. What is the best verdict?

   • Weakly supported: the share fell, but dollar pay rose and the cards cannot show a cause
   • Not supported: pay rose from $13,447.8 to $15,041.7 billion, so labor's position did not change
   • Strongly supported: the share fell while machines produced more, so machines caused the fall
   • Strongly supported: employee pay is shrinking, since 2019's 53.3 percent is above 2025's 50.9
10. 8.

    A writer wants to say average pay per worker fell. Tala asks what evidence the cards are missing. Which is it?

    • The number of employees or hours worked, to divide total pay into a figure per worker
    • Shares from before 2019, because a longer series would show what caused the change in pay
    • The share of income that goes to profits, to show who gained from the change in pay
    • GDP in constant dollars, to remove the effect of rising prices from the totals on the cards
11. 9.

    Pay rose in dollars while its share fell. Zee asks how both can be true. Which explanation fits the cards?

    • Total income grew faster than pay, so a rising amount became a smaller part of a bigger total
    • Employers cut pay per hour while hiring more workers, which raised the total but lowered the share
    • A share is measured in dollars, so a share of 51.4 percent means $51.4 billion of pay
    • Total income fell while pay rose, so pay should have become a larger share of the smaller total
12. 10.

    Another writer says the capital owners' share rose from 2019 to 2025. Ari checks the chart. What is the best reading?

    • Not shown: the chart gives only the employee share, and other incomes could each have moved differently
    • Shown, and caused by automation, since a falling labor share means machines replaced the workers
    • Shown: whatever employees do not receive goes to capital owners, so their share rose by 2.4 points
    • Shown: the employee share fell every year after 2020, so the remaining income rose each year