In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed, and 48

Question

In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed, and 48 percent of the population are employed males. What percent of the employed people in Town X are females?

(A) 16%
(B) 25%
(C) 32%
(D) 40%
(E) 52%

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

We are asked to find the percentage of females in employed people.

Total employed people 64%, out of which 48 are employed males, hence 16% are employed females.

(employed females)/(total employed people)=16/64=1/4=25%

Answer: B.

sumit1854 · Answer

Lets say there are 100 people in the town.
Its mentioned that 64% of the population are employed means 64 are employed.
and 48% of the population are employed males that means 48 people are employed males.
Hence 64-48=16 are employed females.
Lets put this as % out of 64 = 16*100/64 = 25%.

Cassiss · Answer

Hello Bunuel, i didnt understood yout answer ho do you get the 16%?

here is how i did:

48 % of the employed are males (lets make it 50%) so the rest which are female should be 52% (~50%)

so the female part is close to 50% of the total employed which is 64% of the total population, 
so employed female would be close to 32% of the total population

BangOn · Answer

Let the population be x.
Employed Population know is 64x.
Male Employed Population = 48x.
Female employed Population = 64x - 48x= 16x

Percentage of Employed population female employed population is

16x/64x *100 = 25%

theGame001 · Answer

this question is little confusing. When they say "and 48 percent of the population are employed males" do they mean 48% of total population of 48% of employed population?

Bunuel · Answer

The stem clearly says: "48 percent   of the population   are employed males" not "48 percent of the   employed   population are employed males".

imperfectdark · Answer

Just incase it helps anybody visualise what is going on, a figure is attached.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Let's use a convenient value for the total number of people in town X. Since this is a percent problem, 100 is an easy number to use. If there are 100 people in the town, we know:

100 x 0.64 = 64 = total employed

100 x 0.48 = 48 = employed males

Thus, 64 – 48 = 16 employed females

Now let's solve for the percent of employed people in town X who are females.

x 100 = 16/64 x 100

¼ x 100 = 25%

Answer B

mcelroytutoring · Answer

Attached is a visual that should help.

robu · Answer

but female may be including unemployed females, the number of which we do not know. then how can we find the %.

Bunuel · Answer

You should read a question and solution carefully.

Given: 
64  employed  people ( employed  females +  employed  males = 64);
Out of 64  employed  people, there are 48  employed  males, thus  employed  females = total  employed  -  employed  males = 64 - 48 = 16.

( employed  females)/(total  employed  people)=16/64=1/4=25%

Divyadisha · Answer

Reading question carefully is the key here

'What percent of the employed people in Town X are females' and not 'what percent of the total are employed females. Out of 64 employed people, 48 are males. Hence, 16 are females. 16 is 100*16/64= 25% of the employed people. B is the answer

BrentGMATPrepNow · Answer

Since the question is asking us to find a certain  percent  (and not a specific value), let's say there are   100   people inTown X.

In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed  
64% of   100   =   64  , which means there are   64   employed people in Town X

48 percent of the population are employed males  
48% of   100   =   48  , which means   48   of the   64   employed people in Town X are males.

What percent of the employed people in Town X are females?  
If there are   64   employed people in Town X, and   48   of them are males, then the remaining   16   employed people must be females. 
In other words,   16   of the   64   employed people are females. 
  16  /  64    = 1/4 = 25% 
So, 25% of the employed people are females.

Answer: B

Zzeeyan · Answer

I solved this using the Matrix approach we generally use to solve for overlapping sets

try doing it in the 3x3 format 
then it is asked What percent of the employed people in Town X are females?

so , the percent of people employed = 64 
of which those who are female = 16 
now we have to find what % of 64 is 16 
hence , 
(16/64) * 100 = 25%

Please correct me if I am going wrong somewhere

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Short video solution here (1:52):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtsO0n7a2JU

KarishmaB · Answer

It is a simple question but you must read it carefully. 64 percent of the population are employed, So if there are 100 people in the town, 64 are employed. 48 percent of the population are employed males Again, we are talking about 48% of the entire population so of 100 people, 48 are employed males. Since 64 are employed and 48 are employed males, we get that 16 are employed females (assuming 2 gender paradigm) What percent of the employed people in Town X are females? Now we want employed females as a percentage of total employed people i.e. 16/64 * 100 = 25% Answer (B) Check out the percentages video here for more: https://youtu.be/HxnsYI1Rws8

GMATCoachBen · Answer

A is a very common trap here.

The #1 most important habit on the GMAT is to always double-check exactly what it's asking for.

It makes an enormous difference in your score to prevent careless errors and dodge traps like this one.

So, it's essential to build habits for proactive error prevention.

My students find this doc helpful: GMAT Habits for Proactive and Mindful Error Prevention: How to Dodge Common Traps (by [email protected])

I suggest making your own copy of this doc and adding to it, based on your own mistakes and insights.

GMATCoachBen

Short video solution here (1:52):

Show Spoiler

Attachment:

GMAT-Club-Forum-b7iaqzhe.png [ 26.34 KiB | Viewed 3926 times ]

totaltestprepNick · Answer

B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POUx8zDDlRE Nick Slavkovich, GMAT/GRE tutor with 20+ years of experience tutoring@totaltestprep.net

In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed, and 48

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Problem Solving (PS) Questions

In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed, and 48

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards