Service sector income on the wane

However, the same sources said that the decline was not as marked as it had been at a national level where a downturn of 13.4 percent had been registered. In terms of service sector business in the Balearics so far this year, income has slid by 14.7 percent, but this is still less than the national figure which was nearly 17 percent. Employment in the service sector in the Islands fell by 6.9 percent in August in comparison with that which it had been a year ago, and the cumulative loss over the first 8 months of 2009 stood at 6.6 percent. The INE report showed that income for the industry has been on the wane for 13 consecutive months. The Balearics has fared better than Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid, however, where service sector sales in August this year were 17.4 and 17.3 percent respectively less than they had been a year ago.