Average hourly earnings of production workers at nussbaum steel from 1996 through 2002 approximately by the equation y=0.498x-973.2, where x represents the year and y represents the hourly earnings. what are the approximate average hourly earnings in 1998

The answer is:  " $ 21.80 " .

Explanation:

Given the equation; 

y = (0.498)x - 973.2  ;  

We plug in "1998" (the year) for "x" ;  in the equation;

to solve for get "y" ; which is our


y = (0.498)*(1998) - 973.2  ;

   = 995.004 - 973.2 ; 

y = 21.804 ; round to:  $21.80 .

The answer is:  " $ 21.80 " .

The slope of the function is 0.5.