The line graph illustrates the proportion of employees who worked in three different sectors in the UK economy between 2000 and 2010.
Overall, it can be seen that the public sector and self-employed witnessed considerable uptrends while an opposite pattern happened to the private sector. Another notable point is that at first the private sector had the highest rates, but the public sector surpassed it and took over the top position at the end of the period.
To begin with, the employment rates in the public sector started at around 40% in 2000 and levelled off at this number until 2002. From 2002 to 2004, the figure surged dramatically to approximately 48%. However, there was a slight decline to 45% in 2006, over the next four years, the rate recovered and grew slightly. If we look at the self-employed, the trend was similar. The self-employed rates rose from 2000 to 2002. From 2002 onwards, there was a decrease from 20% to 18% in 2004; in the next four years, the figure increased significantly. However, the rates remained stable at 30% in 2010.
Additionally, the trend of the private sector reversed compared to the others. It began at approximately 48% in 2003 and went down to 42% in 2002; besides, it levelled off for one year and then declined sharply to 27% in 2008. From 2008 to 2010, there was a slight decrease to 20%, down 7% from 2008.