A service is a job or work done for someone else. All the service trades form a service economy.

Good examples are:

• Government is perhaps the largest example.
• Hospitals and the health services generally.
• Banks and financial services.
• Motor trade services. All services except actual products such as parts and petrol (which are obviously goods or products).
• Painting a house as opposed to building it.

The old split between product and service is now often a service–product continuum. Many products are being transformed into services.An example is IBM, which made computers, now is mainly a consultancy for businesses which use computers. That has been so at least for the past 40 years.