At the end of the accounting period, Alpha Corporation reports a certain amount of operating income. Which of the following statements is true, if Alpha's inventory levels decrease during the accounting period?

	a.	The operating incomes reported under variable costing and absorption costing methods will be the same since the cost of goods sold are the same.
	b.	The operating income reported under absorption costing method will be lesser than the operating income under variable costing method.
	c.	None of the answers.
	d.	The operating incomes reported under variable costing and absorption costing methods will be the same since the total costs are the same.
	e.	The operating income reported under variable costing method will be lesser than the operating income under absorption costing method.