The Service Economy: Accountants to Zoologists

Accountants to Zoologists

Who belongs to the swelling ranks of the U.S. service economy? Such workers are often depicted as a legion of hamburger flippers and computer programmers, but in fact they constitute a huge, diverse group whose members range from cashiers to lumberjacks. The vast majority of the U.S. labor force, more than 76 million workers, belong to the service sector; 25 million others are in goods-producing jobs, and 3 million are in agriculture. The Labor Department defines the goods-producing sector as manufacturing, mining and construction, but the rapidly growing service-producing sector tends to be much broader, encompassing many new types of jobs...

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