Assuming the same rate of change continues for the following data:

The equation of the straight line trend using the least square method is:

$y=9.4x-18940.6$

The correct answer is Option (2) → $y=9.4x-18940.6$ **

Given data:

Years (x): 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Profit (y): 38, 40, 65, 72, 69

Using least squares, the straight-line trend is of the form:

$y = a + bx$

Calculated using least-squares computation:

$b = 9.40$

$a = -18940.60$

The required trend equation is:

$y = -18940.6 + 9.4x$