Employment costs rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months that ended in September, slightly less than they did in the year that ended in the previous quarter.

A. less than they did
B. less than it did
C. less than they were
D. lower than
E. lower than they were

OA: A

Can we use less vs. lower as a split? Please explain why each choice is correct/incorrect.

Thank you.

Hi ,
As per my understanding it should be lower as we are comparing the values of two years........

Please adivce guys.....

Lemme explain what I understand

First - it is employment costs - plural noun, so it is not the correct answer.
Second - the statement says, costs rose (this much) slightly less than .... - so less is used with rose, Lower could be used if the statement said employment costs were 2.8 percent, lower than they were.
Third - ANd did is used not were because it refers to the rise and not to the percentage itself.

we need 'less' because it's an ADVERB.

the sentence is unambiguously saying that the costs ROSE LESS than they did in the previous year, for at least two very, very good reasons:
(1) that's the meaning conveyed by the original sentence; remember, unless the meaning of the original sentence is nonsense, you MUST preserve it.
(2) we know for a fact that employment costs are NOT "lower" than they were in the other year mentioned - because they've risen by 2.8%. for the costs themselves to be lower, they would have to have fallen rather than risen.

therefore, the only reasonable meaning is to have an adverb that modifies 'rose'; that adverb is 'less'.

(b) is wrong because there is no antecedent for 'it'. in fact, there is not one singular noun in the entire sentence, so "it" is a complete orphan.

(c) "were" isn't parallel to "rose". alternatively, "were" makes it seem as though we're comparing the costs themselves, rather than the rates at which they rose. either way, this is wrong.

less than they did

but how come THEY is referring to EMPLYEMENT COSTS ??

THEY is generally used with LIVING THINGS ???

i agree other options are wrong but why is THEY referring to EMPLYEMENT COSTS ?? :(

"they" is used for anything plural, whether it's a thing, person, animal, or anything else.

you're probably just being temporarily forgetful here. think about how you would fill in this blank:
where's the banana? it is gone.
where are the apples? ______ are gone.