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The Global Insight

When did the service industry start?

Author

John Hall

Updated on March 29, 2026

Growth in services began accelerating in the 1960s and accelerated at an increasing rate after the double-dip recession in the early 1980. Manufacturing accelerated at a slower pace in the 1960s and then oscillated around a flat line in sync with the four recessions from 1970 to 1982.

How large is the service industry?

United States: $15.5 trillion.

Why is the service industry growing?

Rising Demand for Services Demand for services is on the rise with a stable middle class and growth in upper-income families. A sector of the economy becoming less concerned about material needs. In the consumer sector, this leads to increasing demand for services such as health, education and entertainment.

What are examples of service industries?

Service industries include everything else: banking, communications, wholesale and retail trade, all professional services such as engineering, computer software development, and medicine, nonprofit economic activity, all consumer services, and all government services, including defense and administration of justice.

What percentage of the economy is service?

Last year, the services sector—a broad category of the economy that now includes financial services, media, transportation and technology—accounted for 67 percent of GDP in the United States.

How big is the service industry in the United States?

In the United States, for example, the service sector accounted for more than half the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1929, two-thirds in 1978, and more than three-quarters in 1993. In the early 21st century, service industries accounted for more than three-fifths of the global GDP and employed more than one-third of the labour force worldwide.

What is the history of the service industry?

history of the organization of work: Services For most of recorded history, the vast majority of the world’s population was engaged in farming. Beginning in the 19th century, industrial employment took primacy over agricultural work in many countries. By the 21st century the service sector had come to represent the fastest-growing…

Why is the service industry important to the economy?

Because machines allow a smaller workforce to produce more tangible goods, the service functions of distribution, management, finance, and sales become relatively more important. Growth in the service sector also results from a large increase in government employment.

What are the jobs in the service industry?

The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, gross job gains and losses, and projections of occupational employment change. For projected (future) employment estimates in service-providing industries, see the Employment and projected employment by major industry sector table.