New England Online > Economy > Sectors & Industries
Economic Sectors
New England's economy is organised into groupings of businesses that share a common method of generating profits.
- Sectors
- Agricultural
- Manufacturiung
- Retail & Services
- Guilds & Federations
- Unionism
Sectors
Agricultural - The primary sector of industry generally involves the conversion of natural resources into primary products. Most products from this sector are considered raw materials for other industries. Major businesses in this sector include agriculture, agribusiness, fishing, forestry and all mining and quarrying industries. Downstream manufacturing industries that aggregate, pack, package, purify or process the raw materials close to the primary producers are normally considered part of this sector, especially if the raw material is unsuitable for sale or difficult to transport long distances.
Manufacturing - The secondary sector of industry is the manufacturing sector of industry. This sector of industry generally takes the output of the primary sector and manufactures finished goods or products to a point where they are suitable for use by other businesses, for export, or sale to domestic consumers. This sector is often divided into light industry and heavy industry. Many of these industries consume large quantities of energy and require factories and machinery to convert the raw materials into goods and products. They also produce waste materials and waste heat that may pose environmental problems or cause pollution.
Retail & Services - The tertiary sector of industry involves the provision of services to other businesses as well as final consumers. Services may involve the transport, distribution and sale of goods from producer to a consumer as may happen in wholesaling and retailing, or may involve the provision of a service, such as in pest control or entertainment. The goods may be transformed in the process of providing the service, as happens in the restaurant industry. However the focus is on people interacting with people and serving the customer rather than transforming physical goods. For the last 20 years there has been a substantial shift from the other two industry sectors to the Tertiary Sector in industrialised countries.
