The line graph compares the number of jobs in four sectors—manufacturing, agriculture, retail, and healthcare—in the US economy, with numbers serving as the unit of measurement at 20-year intervals.
In 1960, manufacturing was the leading employment industry in the US, accounting for 15 million jobs. In 1980, this figure peaked at 20 million, the highest on the chart, but by 2020, it experienced a downward trajectory, dipping by 7 million. Agriculture, ranked third, mirrored the same trend, albeit at lower figures. In 1960, it commenced at 6 million jobs, a figure that then declined noticeably to 3 million in 1980 and hovered around this level until the end of the period.
The other two sectors—retail and healthcare—bucked the foregoing trend. Retail started the period at 5 million in 1960 and witnessed significant growth to a whopping 15 million jobs between 1960 and 2000. By 2020, the figure increased by a mere 2 million but surpassed other sectors to become the dominant figure in the US economy, closely followed by healthcare, which experienced a similar trend throughout the period. Even though it accounted for only 1 million jobs initially, healthcare underwent a noticeable expansion, rising dramatically by 14 million, the highest increase on the chart.
Overall, the gap between the four sectors narrowed throughout the period. While manufacturing was by far the highest initially, it underwent a dramatic decrease, alongside agriculture, over the period. Furthermore, both healthcare and retail employment outpaced the other two (manufacturing and agriculture) and led the US economy.