An economist analyzed unemployment in four regions before and after a job-training program: Region 1, 8.2% to 7.8%; Region 2, 9.1% to 6.4%; Region 3, 7.5% to 7.3%; Region 4, 10.0% to 5.5%. The economist concluded that the program's impact was highly uneven across regions. To distinguish "uneven impact" from "modest universal impact," the economist would point to ______
Which choice most logically completes the text using the data above?
- A
Region 1's decline of 0.4 percentage points.
- Bcheck_circle
the contrast between Region 3's drop of 0.2 points and Region 4's drop of 4.5 points.
- C
the fact that all four regions showed some decline.
- D
Region 4's final unemployment rate of 5.5%.
Explanation
To distinguish uneven impact from a uniform modest effect, one must show that some regions experienced large effects while others experienced very small ones. Choice C captures this contrast directly (0.2 vs. 4.5 percentage points). Choice A actually supports a uniform effect.