Agriculture no longer biggest employer globally, study says

This decade is the first in which more people in the world are employed in service jobs than in agriculture. A study by the International Labor Organization found that in 2006, 42 percent of the world's workers were in the service sector, while agriculture employed 36.1 percent. The industrial sector accounted for 21.9 percent, unchanged over the last decade. Agriculture, which was arguably the world's first form of employment (after hunting and gathering), is still the top employer in the world's poorest regions, the report adds.

The ILO reports that the United States had the highest productivity ranking in terms of hours worked, according to Reuters. In terms of productivity by the hour, the United States ranked second, behind Norway. "Working hours per person employed are considerably higher in the United States than in the majority of European economies,'' the report says. From 1980 to 2005, American productivity grew at an average rate of 1.7 percent, while British output over that time grew by 2.1 percent. (Read more)