Biscuit Company has developed the following standards for one of its products. Direct labor hours is the driver used to assign overhead costs to products.

Direct materials: 10 pounds ? $3 per pound

Direct labor: 2.5 hours ? $8 per hour

Variable manufacturing overhead: 2.5 hours ? $2 per hour

The following activity occurred during the month of June:

Materials purchased: 125,000 pounds at $2.60 per pound

Materials used: 110,000 pounds

Units produced: 10,000 units

Direct labor: 24,000 hours at $8.50 per hour

Actual variable manufacturing overhead: $51,000

The company records materials price variances at the time of purchase.

The direct labor rate variance is

a. $12,000 favorable.

b. $8,000 favorable.

c. $12,000 unfavorable.

d. $8,000 unfavorable.