There’s little doubt that the prices of education and health care have risen considerably over the past decades. One reason for this is that more and more people work in these fields. The graph displays the share of workers in the education and health services sector among all employees: The share was about 4 percent in the 1940s and is now above 15 percent. Note also that this sector appears to be quite recession-proof: The share has gone up in all recent recessions, mostly because general employment declined while this sector’s employment did not. Interestingly, the employment share systematically stays up when the recession is over.

How this graph was created: Search for and select “All Employees: Education and Health Services,” and then modify the existing series by adding the “All Employees: Total nonfarm” series and applying the data transformation “a/b.” Choose graph type “Area” in the graph settings.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann