Direct Labor Variances Bellingham Company produces a product that requires 5 standard direct labor hours per unit at a standard hourly rate of $8.00 per hour. If 5,500 units used 28,300 hours at an hourly rate of $7.76 per hour, what is the direct labor (a) rate variance, (b) time variance, and (c) cost variance? Enter a favorable variance as a negative number using a minus sign and an unfavorable variance as a positive number. a. Direct labor rate variance Favorable b. Direct labor time variance Unfavorable c. Direct labor cost variance Favorable Feedback Check My Work Unfavorable variances can be thought of as increasing costs (a debit). Favorable variances can be thought of as decreasing costs (a credit). The labor cost variance is the difference between the actual and standard labor cost