Ricardo earned $52,000 last year. He just received a 3% salary increase. What is his new yearly salary?

Explanation:

Having the salary increase by 3% means we can use the multiplier 1.03

Think of it like 100% + 3% = 1 + 0.03 = 1.03

The new salary is 52,000*1.03 = 53,560 dollars

The slightly longer way to do this is to first figure out how much 3% of 52,000 is

3% of 52,000 = 0.03*52,000 = 1560

Ricardo earns $1560 more dollars on top of the salary of $52,000

So overall his new salary is $1,560 + $52,000 = $53,560

Personally, I prefer the first method because it's quicker and it allows for multiple percentage increases to chain together. It also could be used to chain in percentage decreases as well.