Editing Cherbourg (section)

==Economy==
===Historic===
[[File:Cherbourg AncienneCriée.jpg|thumb|right|Old fish market of Cherbourg, ''Quai de Caligny''.]]
[[File:Cherbourg-arsenal hangars.jpg|thumb|right|Sheds of the arsenal, seen from Chantereyne.]]

At the instigation of [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert|Colbert]], the guild of drapers was founded on 16 April 1668, the manufacture of cloth produced two thousand pieces per year.<ref name=anecdotique /> Two years earlier, Colbert had also promoted the introduction of the [[La Glacerie|glass factory]] in the forest of [[Tourlaville]].<ref>Voisin-La-Hougue, ''op. cit.'' {{p.|104-109}}</ref>

In the 18th century, the economic resources came mainly through maritime trade, the preparation of cured meats and the harbour and breakwater works, plus a moribund textile industry. On the eve of the French Revolution, salt was imported from [[Le Croisic]] along with British grain, and [[Le Molay-Littry|Littry]] coal. Exports were mainly to Britain (sheets and clothes) and the West Indies (cattle and mules, fat and salted butter, salted meats, cod, linens and canvas), but also to [[Le Havre]] and [[La Rochelle]] for wood and coal. Lawful or otherwise exchanges also took place with the Channel Islands ([[tanbark]], grain and wool). Cherbourg shipowners were absent from significant fishing, including that of cod on the banks of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], which was a specialty of [[Granville, Manche|Granville]]. 361 workers (1764) and 69 skilled workers (1778) of the factory annually produced (1760) 2,000 fine linens in green and white strip. Cherbourg also had seven producers of starch.<ref name="ancienregime" /> Opened in 1793 at the location of the current Lawton-Collins Wharf, the arsenal was moved in 1803 on a decision by [[Napoleon]], within the project of the [[Cherbourg Naval Base|military port]]. Sailing ships were built, the first, the [[brig]] ''La Colombe'', was launched on 27 September 1797, and then screw-propelled vessels up to the end of the 19th century. From 1898, the Arsenal specialised in the {{Interlanguage link|List of submarines built at Cherbourg|fr|3=Liste des sous-marins construits à Cherbourg|lt=construction of submarines}}. The first were ''Le Morse'' and ''Le Narval''. Since then, more than 91 vessels have been built there.

''L'Annuaire de la Manche'' [The Yearbook of Manche] in 1829 mentioned several slate quarries in the agglomeration whose product was sometimes exported to Le Havre, two printers, two soda refineries (properties of Mr. Le Couturier and Messrs. Crenier and Co. producing approximately 600 tonnes for [[Ostend]], [[Dunkirk]], [[Rouen]] and [[Paris]], Germany and Russia), a sugar refinery (Mr. Despréaux) whose 50 tonnes were sold in the English Channel, a lace factory run by four nuns on behalf of Messrs. Blod and Lange and several tanners. It is indicated that the port trade was based on exportation of mules to [[Réunion]] and the [[Antilles]], salted meat of pigs and eggs in [[Great Britain|Britain]], wine and brandies, and the import of [[Scandinavia]]n, [[Poland|Polish]] and Russian wood, linseed, and hemp.<ref>{{cite book|title=Industrie et commerce - Arrondissement de Cherbourg, ''Annuaire du Département de la Manche''|location=Saint-Lô|publisher=Impr. de J. Elie|year=1829}}</ref> But its use as a place of war hampered the development of Cherbourg as major commercial port, compared to Le Havre. Ten years later, for these exchanges, {{Interlanguage link|Jean Fleury (writer)|fr|3=Jean Fleury|lt=Jean Fleury}} counted 225 to 230 both French and foreign, from 30 to 800 tons, ships each carrying 6 to 18 crew. He added the maritime buildings and armaments and the export of butter of [[La Hague]], and the total annual trade was estimated at between 4 or 5 million francs, of which one million for the export of eggs to the United Kingdom, and 850 tons of salted meat.<ref name=fleury1839-notions />

At the beginning of the 20th century, Cherbourg was primarily a [[Cherbourg Naval Base|military port]]. The commercial port was modest, always exporting mules to the West Indies and Réunion and local food products to Britain (butter, meats, eggs, cattle, etc.), but also chemical products of soda extracted from kelp, granite from nearby quarries, and important wood and iron from [[Nord (French department)|Nord]], tar, hemp, and food from the colonies. At this time the port embraced the transatlantic epic. Cherbourg's industry was then specialised in shipbuilding, as well as in lace-making and the manufacture of rope. The late 19th century also saw Cherbourg develop an aviation industry, through the company of [[Félix du Temple de la Croix|Félix du Temple]], taken over in 1938 by [[Félix Amiot]], another aviation pioneer for the aerospace company of Normandy. Gradually, workers developed a particular skill in metalwork, both for the submarines of the Arsenal, for aircraft and ships of the Amiot shipyards or [[George Herman Babcock|Babcock]]-[[Stephen Wilcox|Wilcox]] boilers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mairie-tourlaville.fr/fr/tourisme/tourisme_et_patrimoine/dossiers_en_consultation/fichiers/felix_du_temple.pdf|title=Félix Du Temple, un général inventeur|work=Ville de Tourlaville|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020303/http://www.mairie-tourlaville.fr/fr/tourisme/tourisme_et_patrimoine/dossiers_en_consultation/fichiers/felix_du_temple.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>

In 1916, [[Nestlé]] introduced its first French factory in Cherbourg.

The 1960s saw a revival of the local economy through the increase in the female workforce and the decline of agricultural employment in favour of diversification of jobs and a high-tech industry. In 1960, under the leadership of Mayor [[Jacques Hébert (French politician)|Jacques Hébert]], Hortson was established in the Maupas quarter. One hundred employees manufactured projectors and film cameras, particularly for the [[Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française|ORTF]] and Russian television. Redeemed, the factory specialised under the name of [[Thomson-CSF]] audiovisual in surveillance and medical cameras, then in the production of electronic circuits of computer terminals on behalf of [[Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie]] and the Arsenal. Since 1976, it has been dedicated to the production of microwave electronic devices, employing 260 workers in 1979 contracted for radars of the [[Dassault Mirage F1|Mirage F1]] Army Air and of the Navy [[Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard|Super Etendards]], rising to 400 employees at the end of the 1980s, after moving in 1987 into a new modernised factory in Tourlaville. For a decade, the electronic workshop expanded, adding a production line for mobile television relays, and a workshop for mechanical surface treatment.<ref name="Hortson">{{cite book|first=Frédéric|last=Patard|title=D'Hortson à Sanmina, 45 ans d'histoire industrielle|language=fr|trans-title=Of Hortson at Sanmina, 45 years of industrial history|publisher=La Presse de la Manche}}</ref> As part of the internal restructuring of [[Alcatel-Lucent|Alcatel]], the site, which has 300 employees, was sold in 2002 to [[Sanmina Corporation|Sanmina-SCI]], which ceased its activity in March 2008.<ref name="redynamiser">{{cite web|url=http://www.cherbourg.maville.com/actu/actudet_-Comment-redynamiser-l-economie-de-la-ville-centre-_loc-579463_actu.Htm|title=Comment redynamiser l'économie de la ville centre ?|language=fr|trans-title=How to revitalise the economy of the city centre?|work=Ouest-France|date=5 March 2008}}</ref> The ''Compagnie industrielle des télécommunications'' (CIT), merged the following decade with Alcatel, it also opened an assembly plant for electronic telephone exchanges, at [[Querqueville]] in the 1960s. The unit, seen as a flagship of French industry by the new president of the Republic in 1981, was considered unnecessary after the integration of Thomson's telephony division with Alcatel in 1984 and suffered heavy redundancies from the end of the 1980s, before closing in 1997 at the end of a difficult social conflict.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Sylvie|last=Malsan|title=Licenciements collectifs : le prix d'une dette symbolique|language=fr|trans-title=Collective redundancies: the price of a symbolic debt|journal=Revue du MAUSS, la Découverte|isbn=978-2-7071-5253-4|pages=180–206|year=2007|doi=10.3917/rdm.029.0180 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Between the 1970s and 1990s, the two major projects of northern [[Cotentin Peninsula|Cotentin]], the [[La Hague site|La Hague reprocessing plant]] and the [[Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant]], accentuated the industrial development of a city that saw a golden age<ref name="cite-inquiete"/> through what the journalist François Simon called "industries of death", since about two thirds of the local industrial fabric was related to defence and the nuclear industry.<ref name="histoireindustrielle" />

Cherbourg is also the cradle of the [[Paul-Louis Halley|Halley]] family and society, which became [[Promodès]] in the 1960s ({{Interlanguage link|Continent (hypermarket)|fr|3=Continent (hypermarché)|lt=Continent}} hypermarkets, [[Champion (supermarket)|Champion]] supermarkets). In 1999, Promodès merged with [[Carrefour]]. The old buildings of Halley House became the technical centre of the Cachin vocational school, on ''Avenue Aristide-Briand''.

===Economic data===
In 1999, the economically active population of Cherbourg and Octeville was 18,671 inhabitants in a total population of 42,288 inhabitants.<ref name="linternaute">{{cite web|url=http://www.linternaute.com/ville/ville/accueil/12260/cherbourg.shtml |title=Cherbourg|work=L’Encyclopédie des villes de France|publisher=L’Internaute}} and {{cite web|url=http://www.linternaute.com/ville/ville/accueil/25574/octeville.shtml|title=Octeville|work=L’Encyclopédie des villes de France|publisher=L’Internaute}}</ref>

Cherbourg-Octeville supports an unemployment rate (19.6% in 1999), double that of its job base (9.3% in 2006, a decrease of 1.1% in one year) which itself has the highest unemployment of the basins of employment of the department. At 31 December 2004, there were 3,700 jobseekers. Therefore, the annual average household income is lower than the national average (€13,730 for the city, compared with €15,027 in France) despite an average monthly salary (€1,590 in 2001) highest job growth of the department and higher than that of [[Caen]]-[[Bayeux]] (€1,550).<ref name="memo" /><ref name="linternaute" />

{| border="0" align="center" style="border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF" width="50%"
|+ ''Qualification of employment''<ref name="memo" />
|- align="center" style="background:#bdbbd7;color:#000080;text-align:center;font-size:105%;padding:3px;"
! Number of jobs (%) || Employment pool || Manche || Lower Normandy
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Farm workers || 5 || 7.2 || 5.1
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Artisans, merchants and entrepreneurs || 6 ||7.2 ||6.9
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Executives and professionals ||8.1 || 6.5 || 7.8
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Associate professionals ||25.2 ||19.2 ||19.5
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Employees ||29 ||28.8 ||29.2
|- align=right bgcolor="#ffffff"
| align=left | Manual workers ||26.7 ||31.1 ||31.5
|}

===Main activities===
Cherbourg is the seat of the {{Interlanguage link|Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Cherbourg-Cotentin|fr|3=Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Cherbourg-Cotentin|lt=Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cherbourg-Cotentin}} particularly manages the airport, the fishing ports of Cherbourg and the trade, and, together with the {{Interlanguage link|Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Centre et Sud-Manche|fr|3=Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Centre et Sud-Manche|lt=Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Centre and Sud-Manche}}, the FIM group training organisation.

*'''Major Employers on 1 January 2001'''<ref name=cuc>{{cite web|url=http://www.cuc-cherbourg.fr/Pages/informations_services/obs_communautaire/obs_communautaire.htm|title=Observatoire communautaire|work=Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg|access-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211741/http://www.cuc-cherbourg.fr/Pages/informations_services/obs_communautaire/obs_communautaire.htm|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
{| border="0" align="center" style="border: 1px solid #999; background-color:#FFFFFF" width="50%"
|- align="center" style="background:#bdbbd7;color:#000080;text-align:center;font-size:105%;padding:3px;"
! Name || Activity || Staff
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[DCNS (company)|DCNS]] || Naval construction || align=right | 3,190
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| {{Interlanguage link|Centre hospitalier public du Cotentin|fr|3=Centre hospitalier public du Cotentin|lt=Centre hospitalier Louis-Pasteur}}|| Healthcare/social || align=right | 1,411
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[Électricité de France|EDF]] || Electricity production || align=right |625
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Ville de Cherbourg-Octeville || Public administration || align=right | 606
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| ACAIS (Association Cherbourg action sanitaire/sociale) || Healthcare/social || align=right | 531
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie|CMN]] || Naval construction || align=right | 522
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| {{Interlanguage link|Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg|fr|3=Communauté urbaine de Cherbourg|lt=CUC}} ||Public administration || align=right | 458
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[Auchan]] || Retail group || align=right | 426
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[Sanmina Corporation|Sanmina]] (ex-Alcatel)|| Electronics manufacturing || align=right | 364
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| [[Euriware]] || IT services || align=right |291
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Lycée A. de Tocqueville || Secondary education || align=right | 275
|- align=left bgcolor="#ffffff"
|Centre communal d’action sociale || Healthcare/social || align=right |264
|}

*'''Maritime sector'''

{{further|:fr:Port de Cherbourg}}

The Cherbourg economy derives a large part of its activities from its maritime position.<ref name="boncap">{{citation|title=Cherbourg - économie - Le bon cap|work=Le Point|issue=1732|date=24 November 2005}}</ref> Cherbourg indeed has {{Interlanguage link|Port of Cherbourg|fr|3=Port de Cherbourg|lt=four ports}}: A military port, a fishing port, a port of commerce (passenger traffic and cross-border goods) and a marina.

Weakened since the 1990s, the commercial port sees the transit of 110,000 trucks to or from Ireland and Great Britain. [[FastShip, Inc.|Project Fastship]], involving container transport from [[Philadelphia]] (United States) by high-speed vessels and oped for fifteen years, has been forgotten in favour of the [[Motorways of the Sea]] in the context of the Ena (Eurocoast Network Association), with [[Cuxhaven]] (Germany), [[Ostend]] (Belgium), [[Rosslare Europort|Rosslare]] (Ireland) and [[Ferrol, Galicia|Ferrol]] (Spain), with no more effect at the moment.<ref name="redynamiser" />

In recent years, the cross-Channel passenger traffic has declined, with competition from [[Port of Caen|Caen-Ouistreham]] and the [[Pas-de-Calais]]. The withdrawal of the [[P&O Portsmouth|P&O company]], which served Poole and Southampton, has left two companies with cross-Channel links: [[Brittany Ferries]] to [[Portsmouth]] and [[Poole]] and [[Irish Ferries]] to [[Rosslare Europort|Rosslare]] (Ireland). In the first eleven months of 2007 compared with the same period of 2006, passenger traffic declined by 3.84% to 750,000 units, while freight fell 4.43% with 87,000 trucks landed. For comparison, the port had 1.7 million passengers and 138,000 trucks in 1995.<ref name="retroport">{{citation|first=Frédéric|last=Patard|title=Deux bouées de sauvetage pour le port|work=La Presse de la Manche|date=3 January 2008}}</ref>

Property, with the [[Port of Caen|Port of Caen-Ouistreham]], of the joint association Ports Norman Associates, involving the {{Interlanguage link|Regional Council of Lower Normandy|fr|3=Conseil régional de Basse-Normandie}} and the Departmental Councils of [[Departmental Council of Manche|Manche]] and [[Departmental Council of Calvados|Calvados]], port trade is managed by a joint company of the {{Interlanguage link|Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cherbourg-Cotentin|fr|3=Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Cherbourg-Cotentin|lt=Chamber of commerce}} and {{Interlanguage link|Louis Dreyfus Armateurs|fr}}. The construction of a terminal dedicated to the traffic of coal from South America and destined for the United Kingdom will put an end to the haemorrhage of the activity of the port.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drakkaronline.com/article67172.html|title=LD Armateurs s'installe avec la CCI à la tête du port de Cherbourg|work=DrakkarOnLine|date=14 November 2008}}</ref>

The fishing industry is affected by the crisis affecting the entire industry, and the port has seen its fleet decline.<ref name="redynamiser" />

Cherbourg was the first French marina by number of visitors in 2007, having 10,117 boats for 28,713 overnight stays in 2007, and the total impact estimated at €4 million for the Cherbourg agglomeration.<ref>{{citation|title=Les Anglais de Cherbourg|work=Ouest-France|date=5 December 2008}}</ref>

A tradition of local industry, shipbuilding is based on the two pillars of the [[DCNS (company)|DCNS]] Cherbourg for [[submarine]]s and [[Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie]] (CMN), famous for their speedboats. This sector has been widely restructured over the past twenty years. The military arsenal saw the end of the construction of the [[Redoutable-class submarine (1967)|''Redoutable''-class submarines]] and expanded its customer base, until then exclusively of the Navy, prior to being privatised in 2007. With diesel ''Agosta'' submarines, developed since 1994 for Pakistan, and the ''Scorpène'', in collaboration with the shipyards of [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]], sold to Malaysia, Chile and India, 25% of the total turnover of the establishment is of foreign origin. Partnerships with Pakistan and India have concluded to make the construction term at home. The CMN, which employed 1,200 people at the beginning of the 1980s, modernised and automated, and now has 500 employees. The company diversified into large luxury yachts, without abandoning the military market, and has signed such contracts with the [[United Arab Emirates]] and [[Qatar]] through the Franco-[[Lebanon|Lebanese]] businessman [[Iskandar Safa]], owner since 1992.<ref name="boncap" />

[[File:TransatJ.Vabre6 11 2005 BankPop.jpg|thumb|right|Multihull ''Banque Populaire'', built by the {{Interlanguage link|JMV Industries|fr}} shipyard]]

While these two military companies have experienced reductions in loads (the number of jobs at the Arsenal increased from 6,000 including 1,000 subcontracted, in 1988, to 2,600 including 500 subcontractors), and the companies have repositioned in the nautical industry. {{Interlanguage link|JMV Industries|fr}}, a subsidiary of CMN with 100 employees, built racing yachts. Originally hosted by CMN to build aluminium hulls designed by James Ébénistes ([[Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves]]), Allures Yachting has specialised in cruising sailboats. The Allais shipyard, of Dieppe, has established a subsidiary, ICAN, dedicated to civilian boats and pleasure craft.<ref name="boncap" />

A network of subcontractors and specialists formed around this hub through Ameris France (established in 1994 under the name of ''Cap 50 export'', specialised in the research and the supply of spare parts for ships and military aircraft), the Efinor group (founded in 1988, specialising in metallurgy, nuclear decommissioning and engineering), MPH (help in project control, 140 employees). At [[Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue]], Facnor has become a global specialist of sailing reels.<ref>{{citation|title=Les entreprises cherbourgeoises à Euronaval|work=La Presse de la Manche|date=27 October 2006|page=3}}.</ref>

The Navy employs nearly 3,000 officials in the agglomeration, especially in the context of administration (maritime prefecture), maritime safety (customs, CROSS, Abeille), logistical support of the [[French Navy]] and foreign passage, and of training.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.otcherbourgcotentin.fr/index.php?page=2&fiche=442|title=Marine nationale|work=Tourist office of Cherbourg-Octeville.}}</ref>
*'''Metallurgy'''

Metallurgy has long represented a large source of employment in the agglomeration. Around the Arsenal and its [[boilermaker]]s, several metalworking and mechanical industries were formed from the early 1900s. This is the case of the oldest business the city, the Simon Brothers company, founded in 1856, which went from being a mechanical workshop to a steam agricultural machinery manufacturer and then to an agribusiness in a half a century.

Manufacturing guns in 1870 and 1939, the company became a world leader in [[butter churn|churns]] and mixers for the butter industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimanche.fr/index.php?title=Simon_Frères|title=Simon Frères|work=Wikimanche|date=5 September 2008}}</ref> Similarly, the Babcock [[boiler]] manufacturer was implanted in Cherbourg in the [[interwar period]] and closed its doors after a protracted labour dispute, in 1979. Later, the {{abbr|UIE|Union industrielle d'entreprise (Industrial Business Union)}} began business in Cherbourg in 1973, for the construction of [[oil platform]]s, but closed in 1985.<ref name=histoireindustrielle />

*'''Agri-food'''

The food industry, essential in Lower Normandy, is not absent from the employment pool. A farm raising salmon in the harbour, abattoirs handling farmed livestock of Nord-Cotentin, and several processing companies exist. The Simon Brothers (50 employees) have supplied equipment for the cider and dairy industries for more than a century.

*'''Electronics'''

Alcatel had two units in the 1980s, one in Cherbourg, then Tourlaville (formerly [[Thomson-CSF]]) the other in Querqueville ([[Alcatel-Lucent|Alcatel CIT]]). Both, regarded as flagships of the group, specialised respectively in microwave and electronic telephone exchanges. However, Alcatel decided to close the Querqueville factory in 1997, Codifur then took over part of the business with hundreds of employees. In 2002, it also offloaded the Tourlaville unit to [[Sanmina Corporation|Sanmina-SCI]], which relocated its production six years later. Codifur resumed the after-sales service business of Alcatel, or 5% of the initial activity, and a few dozen employees.<ref>{{citation|first=Gérald|last=Lerouvreur|title=Sanmina loue 5000m<sup>2</sup> au groupe Cofidur|work=Ouest France|date=17 April 2008}}</ref>

*'''Other industries'''<ref name="tresor">{{cite web |url=http://tresordesregions.mgm.fr/Mdir.php?p=cant.php&region=25&cl=CherbourgOcteville |title=Cherbourg-Octeville |work=Trésor des régions |year=2007}}</ref>

Socoval, a manufacturer of menswear of the Cantoni Group from Italy, is the last textile factory of the Cotentin and employs about 100 employees, since the social plan of 2001, which resulted in the loss of about 40 employees.

Economic partners now rely on the "mastery of atmosphere", i.e. the control of contamination from industrial processes, through the {{Interlanguage link|Technopole Cherbourg Normandie|fr|3=Technopole Cherbourg Normandie|lt=Cherbourg-Normandy technopole}} created in 2001. Having experience of work involving nuclear risk, it wants to transfer these skills to the food, electronics and pharmaceutical industries. Two courses have been designed for this purpose: A BTS in nuclear maintenance at the Lycee Tocqueville and a DESS in mastery of atmosphere at the [[Cherbourg School of Engineering]].

*'''Commerce'''

The urban community, the main commercial centre of the Cotentin, has four [[hypermarket]]s covering {{convert|26780|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}<ref name=memo2008 /> - of which one, [[Carrefour]] (260 employees), located in the Cherbourg area, represents the third largest private employer of the commune - as well as several large specialist stores. Trade employs nearly 1,400 people in the city centre,<ref name="tresor" /> but the decline in cross-Channel traffic has caused a big shortfall, exacerbated by the fragile local economy.<ref name="redynamiser" />
Although downtown Cherbourg is the main commercial centre of the agglomeration, with 340 establishments, its dominance is lower in the urban community, when compared to Caen towards its agglomeration. Indeed, Cherbourg focuses 35% of commercial activities and 45% of retail trade in the agglomeration, against 40% and 55% for the centre of Caen respectively, particularly two-thirds of the human equipment stores against 90% in Lower Normandy's capital. Grocery chains, equipment and home appliances have left the city centre for out-of-town shopping centres. The number of fast food outlets doubled between 1995 and 2005, while the strength of the traditional catering has stagnated.<ref>{{citation|first=Michel|last= Moisan|title=Le commerce de centre-ville à Cherbourg et Caen|work=Cent pour Cent Basse-Normandie|issue=158|date=June 2006}}</ref>

*'''Services'''<ref name="tresor" />

Cherbourg-Octeville, the largest city of the department, is the main centre for administration and services for the [[Cotentin]]. Health is an important provider of jobs with the {{Interlanguage link|Centre hospitalier public du Cotentin|fr|3=Centre hospitalier public du Cotentin|lt=Pasteur hospital}} (470 beds, second of Lower Normandy, merged since 2006 with the Hospital of Valognes) and the Cotentin Polyclinic. The same goes for the education sector with four public and four private schools, a marine high school and aquaculture, a university campus and several graduate schools. The branches of public enterprises are also located there (EDF, with 120 officers and SNCF, with 50 officers). Public employment represents an important part with, in addition to the hospital and schools, municipal and community staff.

Business service companies are also present in computer science (Euriware, 85 employees), cleanliness (Onet, 240 employees, and Sin&Stes, 100 employees) and advertising (Adrexo, 50 employees).

Cherbourg-Octeville hosts the headquarters of {{Interlanguage link|France Bleu Cotentin|fr}} public radio, and the departmental daily ''[[La Presse de la Manche]]'' (120 employees with his CES press), successor to the Libération de {{Interlanguage link|Cherbourg-Éclair|fr|3=Cherbourg-Éclair|lt=''Cherbourg-Éclair''}}, and subsidiary of the {{Interlanguage link|Groupe SIPA - Ouest-France|fr}} since 1990. [[France 3 Normandie]] boasts a local editorial office in the city; Cherbourg's edition of {{Interlanguage link|La Manche libre|fr|3=La Manche libre|lt=''La Manche libre''}} covers the agglomeration, [[La Hague]] and the [[Val de Saire]]; local television {{Interlanguage link|5050 TV|fr}} has installed its headquarters and its main studio in the area.

Jobs in the construction sector are divided between Faucillion (80 employees), [[Eiffage]] (75 employees) and [[Colas Group|Colas]] (60 employees).

Since its opening, the ''[[Cité de la Mer]]'' is the tourist engine of Nord-Cotentin. The cruise terminal also attracts liners each year. The marina of 1,500 spaces is the first French port of call (11,000 per year). The capacity of the city was, as of 1 January 2007, 15 hotels and 429 rooms. The casino, owned by the Cogit Group is the 109th in France, with a turnover of €6.7 million.<ref name="tresor" />