Job Sectors and Economies of yesterday and today

Industries of the Past and Today We know that economies are based on goods and services. Goods are items and “things” that we have; while services are work done for others. Historians categorize human economies by Pre-Industrial, Industrial and Post- Industrial. (Chapter 2).

Pre-Industrial Economies Pre-Industrial economies are economies where the people made their own food and most goods were homemade (i.e. First Nations before contact with Europeans). Many grew their own food or hunted for it. Any tools that were used were simple, made from natural resources and used either human, wind, water or animal power to operate.

Industrial Economies Industrial economies are economies were most goods are manufactured by others, often in factories. It also uses the natural resources to do so (i.e. minerals). Industrial economies are known for its big factories and its mechanical tools that use gas, steam, or electricity to operate.

Post- Industrial Economies Post-Industrial economies are economies based on “information services” and manufactured goods. Post-Industrial economies have many big and small companies and are very dependent of computers and the internet.

Jobs Sectors in Canada Today Today, in Canada, we live in a Post- Industrial economy where many of our lives are dependent on Information Technologies. Economists (people who study economies) break down the kinds of work people do into sectors. The four main economic sectors are: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors.

Primary Sector Primary Sectors involve harvesting or extracting natural resources. It was this kind of work on which many economies was based for thousands of years.

Secondary Sector Secondary Sectors involve mostly construction or manufacturing. Both construction and manufacturing use the natural resources obtained by to primary sector to create all kinds of products, buildings and structures like bridges.

Tertiary Sector Tertiary Sectors involve people providing services to others.

Quaternary Sector Quaternary Sectors involves working with ideas and information. Often jobs in this sector involve research and/ or computers.