Growth in the industry is at an all-time low, with total employment at

Question

Growth in the industry is at an all-time low, with total employment  at less than 68,000 people and fewer  companies in the field than there have been during any of the past ten years.

A. at less than 68,000 people and fewer
B. at fewer than 68,000 people and fewer
C. lesser than 68,000 people and fewer
D. fewer than 68,000 people and less
E. at less than 68,000 people and there are less

This is a  SC Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects: 
 
   Data Sufficiency Butler 
   Problem Solving Butler  
   Critical Reasoning Butler  
   Reading Comprehension Butler  
   Integrated Reasoning Butler

Abhishek009 · Accepted Answer

Both employees and companies are countable so, fewer will be used, errors in other options highlighted, Answer must be (B)

Karan0912 · Answer

Isn't employment uncountable? Shouldnt lesser be more accurate noun for it?
If it said total people employed are fewer than 60k, then it would have been correct.
Where is my understanding wrong? 
 GMATNinja   Bunuel

brt · Answer

Mercifully, when we compare numbers, and numbers decrease, we can simply go back to using “less.”

13) The population of Mongolia is less than that of Los Angeles.

14) The cost of a night at the opera is less than the total cost of a day at the ballgame.

15) The melting point of zinc is less than that of copper.

BTW, “melting point” is a temperature, so it is indeed a number.

this is according to magoosh.......
That is the reason I have chosen ans as c

MeliodasDSW · Answer

Even I fell for the option C, but I think that option doesn't make sense because "Employment" can't be "lesser" than a number of people. They both aren't comparable.
So the option having "Employment is at fewer than a certain number of people" makes sense. The "fewer" is not referring to the employment, it refers to the number of people.

Posted from my mobile device

Growth in the industry is at an all-time low, with total employment at

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 Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Growth in the industry is at an all-time low, with total employment at

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