After 10,000 Years, Farming No Longer Dominates

Peter S. Magnusson writes "As reported widely in business and mainstream press, the ILO recently released world market employment statistics. Most outlets focused on US economic competitiveness vs. China and Europe. Few noticed the gem hidden away in the ILO report: for the first time since the invention of agriculture, farming is not the biggest sector of the global economy — services is. (Aggregate employment numbers often divide the economy into agriculture, industry, and services.) Workers are now moving directly from agriculture to services, bypassing the traditional route of manufacturing."

Re:I for one...

[snowraver1]

Question: Are Chinese gold farmers in the service or agriculture industry?

10,000 Years?

[unfunk]

bu bu bu... God only created the earth 6,000 years ago!

Re:To me, the really sad thing is...

[Gospodin]

I don't care to go into details right now, but the "global economy" is destroying our food supply.

I don't care to go into details right now, but you're wrong.

grammar nazi time

[curmudgeous]

Yes, I did RTFA, and I think the following is only one example in the blog of why one should proofread one's works or at least get an editor to do so.

(sic) "If you licked this posting, then please click here..."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never felt the urge to lick someone's blog.

Re:I for one...

[owlnation]

For that matter... is Phishing and Pharming agriculture or service industry? There certainly seems to be no shortage of people employed doing that.

Impossible...

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as games like WoW exist.

Farming will always be there.

To Anyone Horrified By This Development:

[aquatone282]

Get up at 4:00 a.m., slop the pigs, milk the cows, brush the horses, feed the chickens, cook breakfast, eat breakfast, hook up a plow to the tractor, plow the north 40 acres, meet the vet to see that sick heifer, drive to town and plead for another loan, buy feed for the animals and groceries for the family, drive home, cook dinner, eat dinner, pay bills, balance the checkbook, go to bed (9:00 p.m.)

Then get up the next day and repeat. And continue to repeat for two weeks (except Sundays - go to the church of your choice on Sunday and pray to God you survive another year). Then come back and complain.

Re:10,000 Years?

[Anonymous Coward]

bu bu bu... God only created the earth 6,000 years ago!

You're confusing Universe Years with Earth Years. 4,000,000,000 Earth Years = 6,000 Universe years; One universe year = 666666.6666666666666666666666666... Earth Years. We have only been farming for 66.66666666666666666666666 Universe Years (there is a rounding error there of course).

Re:The oldest profession

[Baldrson]

It is heartless to deprive men of their mates via de facto monetization of female fertility within corporate and governmental harems.