Have you ever heard of Planet Money? If you listen to NPR, you probably know what we are talking about. Planet Money is a multimedia team covering the global economy. The team produces a twice-weekly podcast and creates radio stories for Morning Edition, All Things Considered and This American Life. It also writes a blog.
What we love about Planet Money is how they break complex topics into interesting stories that affect our lives.
A member of this team, Lam Thuy Vo, recently dissected a topic dear to our hearts: What Americans do for work. And, they looked at how this has changed in the last few decades. Vo’s analysis is interesting, showing us how little some things change, and how radically others do change.
One big trend: Fewer of us make things; and more of us service things. While America still produces many goods, technology has reduced the number of people needed to produce these goods. In the service sector, many jobs have been added in education and health services.
Government is the biggest sector for jobs today, accounting for 16.6% of all jobs. This is actually less than the 18.8% government held in 1972, the comparison year Planet Money used. The biggest loser, no surprise, was manufacturing, which in 1972 held almost 24% of all jobs. Today, manufacturing produces only 9% of all American jobs.
Check out these two easy to understand and interesting charts at Planet Money to see where we were, and where we are, in terms of how we make a living.