The line graph illustrates the percentage of workers employed in four sectors in Australia between 1900 and 2000.
Overall, the service sector employed the largest proportion of workers throughout the period and showed a clear upward trend. By contrast, agriculture, manufacturing, and mining all accounted for much smaller shares, and most of them declined by the end of the century.
In 1900, services made up 50% of employment, far higher than the other sectors. This figure then rose gradually to 60% in 1940, remained stable until 1960, and increased further to 80% in 2000, making it by far the dominant industry.
Manufacturing was the second largest employer at the beginning, with around 15% of workers in 1900. It climbed steadily to a peak of approximately 25% in 1940, before falling continuously to just 10% by the end of the period.A similar but less dramatic pattern can be seen in agriculture. Starting at 10% in 1900, it increased slightly to about 15% in 1940, after which it declined to only 5% in 2000.
Finally, mining consistently recorded the lowest employment rate. It decreased gradually from roughly 5% in 1900 to around 2% in 2000, with only a very small change over the century.