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SOCIAL STUDIES: FORM 2

CLASSIFICATION THE LABOUR FORCE

There are four main sectors of the labor industry. They are classified as primary, secondary,

tertiary and quaternary.

1. PRIMARY SECTOR

The primary sector exploits natural resources from the environment such as rocks, minerals,

land, plants and animals. It includes mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction, forestry, farming

and fishing.

Primary occupations are therefore farmers, fishermen, loggers, miners and oil drillers/

2. SECONDARY SECTOR

This sector uses raw materials produced by the primary sector to make manufactured products by

processing them. It includes making food and other products from crops and livestock,

manufacturing textiles and clothes from cotton, making furniture, oil refining and making

plastics and chemicals from oil.

In T&T, someone working in an oil refinery is a secondary worker.

3. TERTIARY SECTOR

The tertiary sector involves services rather than physical goods to people, organizations and

businesses. Examples of people in service industries include waiters, shop assistants and doctors.

There are two categories of services within the tertiary sector; direct and direct services.

Direct services are the ones that sells a service to many customers at the same time.

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Eg: Health services, educational services, hair dressing.

An indirect service is one that sells a service to many customers at the same time.

Eg: Transport, sales and marketing, banking

4. QUATERNARY

This sector is knowledge-based and includes services such as information technology, media,

scientific research and development, consultancy and financial services etc. An example of a

person in this sector is a journalist or scientist.

Ms. Harris