People who manage others or provide professional
services form the single largest job category
in the workforce, with 34 percent of employed
Americans engaged in that line of work. Sales and
office occupations also keep many people working;
26 percent of the workforce has that sort of
job. The proportion of U.S. workers devoted to
production—tasks such as raising crops, manufacturing
goods, and extracting ore—has been on a
steady decline for some years, down to about 20
percent in 2007.
Fourteen percent of American workers are
employed by governments at the national, state,
county, city, or town level.