Service industries

Service industries, commercial, government, or nonprofit occupations performed without involving the sale of commodities. Service industries may be classified as several types: business services, including advertising, bookkeeping, or banking; personal services which might include recreation, travel, housekeeping, and beauty or barbershops; art, including theaters and museums; the professions, including legal, medical, or educational services; and government. Economists consider service occupations an indicator of a country's economic development: the greater the growth, the more advanced the nation. In the late 1950s services accounted for 25% of the U.S. gross national product, and in the 1980s for 66%.