The bar chart compares the number of people employed in five different sectors – sales, accounting, computing, nursing and farming – in a region of Australia in 2001 and 2008.
Overall, sales remained the largest employment sector throughout the period, whereas farming had the fewest employees. Computing experienced the most significant growth, while accounting and farming both recorded slight declines.
In 2001, the sales sector employed by far the highest number of people, at approximately 158,000. Accounting ranked second with around 62,000 employees. Computing and nursing showed similar figures, standing at roughly 59,000 and 58,000 respectively, while farming had the lowest employment level at about 22,000.
By 2008, employment in sales had risen slightly to around 162,000. The number of people working in computing increased considerably, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors. Nursing also saw a modest rise to approximately 59,000. In contrast, accounting experienced a slight fall to around 59,000, while farming declined further to about 19,000.