The line graph compares five industries in Australia – services, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and mining – in terms of the percentage of workforce from 1962 to 2012. Overall, although declines varied in magnitude, the proportions of the employed workforce in manufacturing and agriculture experienced a downward trend, whereas services followed the opposite pattern, retaining its position as the field with the highest percentage of workforce throughout the period. It is also evident that construction and mining remained relatively stable.
Starting at around 53% at the outset, services showed uninterrupted increase, reaching a peak of 79% by the end of the timeframe. In stark contrast, the corresponding figures for manufacturing and agriculture initially stood at 27% and just over 10%, respectively. By 2012, these figures later saw a consistent decline, with manufacturing more than halving to 12% and agriculture dropping to mere 4%.
Regarding the remainder of the fields, in 1962, the proportion of the workforce in mining was only 1%, compared with 10% in construction. Over the following 50 years, the percentage of both sectors remained unchanged, ending at their initial levels.
