Gamma Manufacturing has prepared the following flexible budget for October and it is in the process of interpreting the variances. F denotes a favorable variance and U denotes an unfavorable variance. Material A Material B Direct labor Flexible Budget $20.000 30.000 10,000 Variances Price/Rate Use/Efficiency $1.000 1 $3,000 500 U 1.500 F 300 L 2.500 F What is the most likely explanation of the above direct labor variances? The average wage rate paid to employees was less than expected Management may have a problem with budget slack and may be using lax standards for both labor wage rates and expected efficiency The company may have assigned more experienced employees this month than originally planned Employees did not work as efficiently as expected to accomplish the job