题目选项分析

A discount retailer of basic household necessities employs thousands of people and pays most of them at the minimum wage rate. Yet following a federally mandated increase of the minimum wage rate that increasedthe retailer's operating costs considerably, the retailer's profits increased markedly.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent paradox?

【选项】The retailer's customer base is made up primarily of people who earn, or who depend on the earnings of others who earn, the minimum wage.