The table below shows the percentage of working men and women in different areas of employment in one country in 1986, 1996 and 2006.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Sample 1:

The table illustrates the percentages of male and female employment across four sectors: catering, banking, manufacturing industry, and education, during the years 1986, 1996, and 2006.

Overall, manufacturing industry saw the greatest decline in employment rates, while women dominated education sector.

Within the manufacturing industry, male employment started at a relatively high level of 32% in 1986 but declined to 21% in 1996 and further dropped to 17% in 2006. Women’s participation in this field was consistently lower than men, with a continuous fall from 18% to 6% during the same period. By contrast, in the education sector, female employment was reported to be significantly higher than male, with figures of 33%, 35%, and 38% for the respective years. Male employment remained relatively low in this area, ranging from 13% to 15% across the three years.

In the catering sector, women consistently represented a slightly higher proportion, maintaining a steady 26% throughout the years, while male employment started at 16% in 1986 and rose marginally to 22% in both 1996 and 2006. For the banking industry, both male and female employment experienced substantial growth. The proportion of men employed in this field rose from 11% in 1986 to 20% in 1996, reaching 21% in 2006. Women’s participation increased by 7% throughout the two decades.

Sample 2:

The table illustrates the percentage of men and women employed in various sectors—catering, banking, manufacturing, and education—across the years 1986, 1996, and 2006 in a certain country.

Overall, education consistently employed the highest percentage of women, while the manufacturing industry saw a significant decrease in male employment over the years. In addition, both genders showed stable employment rates in the catering sector.

In 1986, the majority of men were employed in manufacturing (32%), followed by catering (16%), education (13%), and banking (11%). By 2006, there was a notable shift: the manufacturing sector's male employment dropped to 17%, while banking and education saw modest increases to 21% and 15%, respectively. Catering remained stable at 22%.

For women, education was the dominant employment sector, starting at 33% in 1986 and rising steadily to 38% by 2006. The catering sector remained constant at 26% throughout the period. Banking saw a gradual increase from 12% in 1986 to 19% in 2006, whereas the manufacturing sector experienced a decline from 18% to 6%.