Refer to Table 11-5. Suzette's Fancy Packaging subcontracts with Sunshineland Pecans to box dried fruit and nuts for Suzette's mail order business. Suzette rents space for her factory for $400 a week in a nearby strip mall

She can hire temporary workers for $200 a week. Table 11-5 above shows her output and cost data. Use the table to answer questions a-e.
a. Complete the table.
b. In the last week of summer Suzette closes her business to go on a family vacation. What are her costs during that week?
c. In one week Suzette exactly breaks even. If her revenue for the week is $1,200, how many boxes of fruit and nuts did she produce?
d. Judging from the marginal product of labor data, would you say that Suzette had to settle for increasingly unproductive workers? Explain your answer.
e. Suzette has received an order for 1,500 boxes of nuts per week for the next 3 months. If she expects the trend in the marginal product of labor will continue in the same direction, what do you think she should do? Should she not commit until she can move to a larger space or should she just hire more workers? Explain your answer.

a.
Number of Workers Output (boxes) Marginal Product of Labor Office Rent Labor Cost Total Cost
0 0 -- $400 0 $400
1 220 220 $400 $200 $600
2 470 250 $400 $400 $800
3 680 210 $400 $600 $1,000
4 840 160 $400 $800 $1,200
5 940 100 $400 $1,000 $1,400
6 980 40 $400 $1,200 $1,600

b. $400
c. 840 boxes
d. Diminishing marginal product of labor does not imply that the workers are unproductive. Rather, the marginal product declines because of the presence of a fixed factor, in this case the mall space. After hiring the 3rd worker the other workers have begun to get in each other's way.
e. She should not commit to meeting the order until she can move to a larger space and hire more workers.