Citing the fact that the real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita

Careful with your reading here! The passage states that "real GDP per capita grew nearly one-half percent more slowly" — that's just under 0.5%, not 1.5%.


Again, be careful as you read. The passage tells us that the average growth rate in real GDP per capita was the same in 1997 as it was during the 24 years immediately before 1997.

However, this rate is a completely different measurement than "labor productivity." Labor productivity is defined here as "output per hour of goods and services" — in other words, GDP per hour worked, which is NOT equal to GDP per capita. The same goes for average growth rates in productivity; they are not the same as average growth rates in GDP per capita.

The passage only mentions labor productivity measured during 1997 and from 1873-1973. We know nothing about labor productivity from 1973-1997. We also have no idea if completely different factors (e.g. international competition, lack of consumer confidence, or anything else besides labor productivity) could have contributed to a lower growth rate in real GDP per capita during this time period.

The information just isn't available for us to infer the cause of the average growth rate in GDP per capita being lower from 1973-1997 than it was from 1873-1973. That's why we eliminate choice (B).

(D) remains the only choice that can wholly be inferred from the passage itself.

I hope that helps!