Your friend earns $10.50 per hour this is 125% of her hourly wage last year. how much did your friend earn last year

' 125% ' means ' 1.25 '
'of' means 'times'

                                            1.25 times (last year) = $10.50

Divide each side
by 1.25:                                                Last year = ($10.50) / 1.25

                                                                             =   $8.40 .