The bar chart illustrates 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 consistently employed the highest number of workers in both years, while farming experienced the largest decline. Meanwhile, computing and nursing saw notable increases in employment, whereas accounting displayed a slight decrease.
In 2001, sales had by far the largest workforce, with approximately 160,000 employees, and this figure rose slightly to just over 170,000 by 2008. Computing was the second most popular sector in 2001, with around 60,000 workers, and experienced steady growth, reaching 80,000 employees in 2008. Similarly, the nursing sector started at just over 50,000 workers and increased steadily to 70,000 by the end of the period.
In contrast, farming had the smallest workforce, with 40,000 employees in 2001, and this number dropped significantly by half to just 20,000 in 2008. Accounting initially employed just under 60,000 workers, but unlike other sectors, it witnessed a gradual decline to approximately 50,000 employees by 2008.