Search Results - Tertiary sector of industry

The tertiary sector of industry (also known as the service sector or the service industry) is one of the four main industrial categories of a developed economy, the others being the secondary industry (manufacturing), primary industry (extraction such as mining, agriculture and fishing), and (quaternary) the sharing of information. Services are defined in conventional economic literature as "intangible goods".

The tertiary sector of industry involves the provision of services to 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. Goods may be transformed in the process of providing a service, as happens in the restaurant industry or in equipment repair. However, the focus is on people interacting with people and serving the customer rather than transforming physical goods.^{[citation needed]}

The service sector consists of the "soft" parts of the economy such as insurance, government, tourism, banking, retail, education, and social services. In soft-sector employment, people use time to deploy knowledge assets, collaboration assets, and process-engagement to create productivity (effectiveness), performance improvement potential (potential) and sustainability. The tertiary sector is the most common workplace.