The line graph compares the employment figures of four different economic sectors in US from 1960 to 2020.
Manufacturing was the leading employer sector in 1960, recruiting 15 million individuals. This sector grew up by one third in 1980, reaching its peak of 20 million as a result. Despite this dramatic improvement, it started to be declined after 1980s, becoming 17 million after 20 years. Continuing the decreasing trend, sector hit below 15 million after the same time. Consequently, manufacturing dropped to the third rank in the field of employment in 2020.
A similar trend was observed in Healthcare and Retail sectors over the period, significant rise by 9 million between 1960 and 2000, sharing the top spot with each other by the end of 2020. Retail sector, however, started at the bottom, but saw a steady increase.
Notwithstanding others, healthcare saw a consistent drop in the same timeframe, halving in 1980 and reaching 3-4 million. It remained constant from 1980 to 2000, but continued its downward trend by 2020.
