The United States is in fact a leading producer of manufactured goods and agriculture products in the world.
However, a surprisingly small number of workers, 16 out of 100 for manufacturing, and only 2 per hundred for agriculture alone, is responsible for this output.
The above figures account for 24 of the 100 hypothetical workers we started with.
Where do the other 76 work? Well, a full 76 are employed in what are called the service industry.
By the way, the term industry often applies purely to production or manufacturing. Today, however, I will use industry in its more general sense, any general business activity.
Service industries, then include a wide variety of businesses that provide services rather than produce goods.
You know the difference between goods and services, don't you? Let's take a look at the different sectors of the service industries now.
Of 76 workers in the service industries, 25 are employed in community, social and personal services.
Community, social and personal services include doctors' offices, private hospitals, hotels, computer programing and data processing companies, restaurants, repair shops, engineering companies and private research facilities.
The next largest sector in the service industries, wholesale and retail trade, employs 23 of the 76 people.
Wholesale trade involves purchases directly from the producer while retail trade is more familiar to us, purchases from department stores, supermarkets, automobile dealerships and so on.
The next largest sector in the service industries, the government, employs 17 of those 100 hypothetical workers we started with.
The best known government workers are teachers, police, and postal workers. But this sector also includes government officials and administrators, of course.
The next sector is finance, insurance and real estate. In other words, banks and the stock market, some 55,000 insurance companies and companies involved in the buying and selling of property.
Six of every 100 workers are employed in finance, insurance and real estate.
The last service sector is transportation, communication and utilities.
What does the phrase "transportation, communication and utilities" make you think of?