Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?
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bilal muzaffar
how about 460 , 10 % = 46 and 5 % =23, and 460 - 46-23 = 391
Be careful, Bilal! Keep in mind that if you go up by a percent and down by the same percent, you won’t end up in the same place.!
Let's call the employees the company had in January X. The question tells us that X * 1.15 = 460. This is the equation that we need to use to solve this problem. However, you tried using 460 * .85 = X. These two equations will NOT give you the same result!
This is a common mistake that students make on the GMAT. In fact, this mistake is so common that has it's own name: it's called "the percent change trap." I'd suggest that you check out the following video to learn more about the percent change trap and how to avoid it:
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