Mining

Investment spending by employer firms in the mining sector hovered between $42.5 billion and $51.3 billion during 2000-2004, but increased to $66.7 billion in 2005 and $98.3 billion in 2006. In 2006, spending growth in mining in both absolute and percentage terms ($31.6 billion; 47.3 percent) exceeded spending growth in all other sectors. Mining, which accounted for only 6.3 percent of total investment spending by employer firms in 2005, accounted for 20.5 percent of the growth in investment spending by these firms between 2005 and 2006. In 2006, the mining share of total investment stood at 8.1 percent. (Table 2a, Table 3a, in report)

Manufacturing

In 2006, investment spending in the manufacturing sector increased by $25.4 billion, reaching its highest level ($191.0 billion) since 2001. In addition, for the first time in the 1999-2006 period, the sector’s share of total spending (15.7 percent) did not decline, but held steady at the previous-year level. (Table 2a, Table 3a, in report)

Finance and Insurance

In 2006, investment spending in the finance and insurance sector reached $169.4 billion, surpassing the previous (2005) high for the 1999-2006 period. However, the rate of increase lagged that for the economy at large, and the sector’s share of total investment spending declined to 13.9 percent (from 15.2 percent in 2005). (Table 2a, Table 3a, in report)

Information

In 2006, investment spending in the information sector increased by $13.2 billion, reaching its highest level ($104.6 billion) since 2001; the sector’s share of total spending (8.6 percent) held steady at the 2005 level. (Table 2a, Table 3a, in report)

Health care

Investment spending in the health care and social assistance sector increased from $51.3 billion in 1999 to $75.4 billion in 2006. However, the increase in 2006 ($1.6 billion) was below the sector’s average annual increase for the 1999- 2006 period ($3.4 billion), and the sector’s share of total spending declined to 6.2 percent (from 6.9 percent in 2005). (Table 2a, Table 3a, in report)