The labor supply curve facing a purely competitive employer is __________,whereas the labor supply curve facing a monopsonist is ___________.

A) upsloping;horizontal
B) downsloping;vertical
C) vertical;upsloping
D) horizontal;upsloping

In a purely competitive labor market, employers face a horizontal labor supply curve because they are wage takers and can hire as many workers as they want at the market wage. A monopsonist faces an upsloping labor supply curve because they are the only buyer of labor and must offer higher wages to attract additional workers.