Improvements in labor productivity 【C1】______ increase wages and salaries. Wages and salaries 【C2】______ about 75 percent of all income in the United States. 【C3】______, labor productivity is the major 【C4】______ of this (and all other) nations' living standards. If labor productivity improves because of an advance in technology, the 【C5】______ of output increases 【C6】______ the need for additional labor. The dollar value of all goods increases 【C7】______, which implies that consumers ultimately receive more income.
Entrepreneurs have a profit 【C8】______ to increase labor productivity. They do so by providing their workers with better equipment and creating more efficient ways for their workers to use that equipment. Entrepreneurs also have an incentive to discover new products that are more highly valued 【C9】______ to their cost of production.
Some of the largest increases in productivity occur 【C10】______ major technological advancements. The steam engine and the internal combustion engine are two examples. The advances in the computer industry have been 【C11】______ phenomenal. Advances in technology depend 【C12】______ on businesses making 【C13】______ investment in new technology and new products. A major issue in today's economy is 【C14】______ businesses are doing this and what incentives are being provided by the government to companies to encourage investment. Another issue is whether labor productivity in the United States has 【C15】______ other countries.
There have also been 【C16】______ increases in productivity in our agricultural 【C17】______. Because of the increased use of chemicals, the 【C18】______ per acre are many times greater than they were 100 years ago, and consequently, 【C19】______ Americans now 【C20】______ farming, yet agricultural output is the highest it has, ever been.
【C1】______

A. unavoidably
B. highly
C. ultimately
D. actually