An electrician worked 42.50 hours on a wiring job. The electrician earns $35.50 per hour for the first 40 hours. Any time over 40 hours is paid at 1 1/2 times the hourly rate. How much did the electrician earn for this job before any withholding? Round to the nearest cent.

Answer 1

The electrician earns $35.50 for the first 40 hours, so they earn 40*$35.50 = $<<40*35.5=1420>>1420.00
The electrician worked 42.50 hours total, so they worked 42.50-40 = <<42.5-40=2.50>>2.50 hours at time and a half.
At time and a half, the electrician earns $35.50*1.5= <<35.50*1.5=53.25>>53.25 per hour.
For the 2.50 hours of overtime, the electrician earns $53.25*2.5 = <<53.25*2.5=133.125>>133.125.
In total, before any withholding, the electrician earned $1420+$133.13 = $<<1420+133.125=1553.13>>1553.13. Answer: \boxed{1553.13}.