There has been a structural economic shift to services from manufacturing in the US and other
advanced industrial countries over the last century. While the contribution of manufacturing to the
US economy has shrunk, the contribution of the service sector has increased by over 200% in the
post-1950 era (White et al. 1999). A recent report of the US Department of Commerce (April 2013)
shows that the service sector comprises 80.3% of the US GDP (US Department of Commerce 2013).
Services also now constitute more than 80% of the US employment (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2013).
There have been significant innovations in the service economy with radical changes and additions
to its structure. Traditional services, which generally rest upon the provision of labor and expertise,
not physical goods, are not the only kinds of services anymore. Manufacturers have started using
their products as means for service delivery; not the end.