Geneva's economy is mainly services oriented. The city has an important and old finance sector, which is specialised in private banking(managing assets of about 1 trillion USD) and financing of international trade.
Geneva hosts the international headquarters of companies like JT International (JTI), Mediterranean Shipping Company,, Vitol, Gunvor, Merck Serono, SITA,, Soci�t� G�n�rale de Surveillance,ST Microelectronics, and Weatherford International. Many other multinational companies like Caterpillar, DuPont, and Cargill have their international headquarters in the city; Take Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, INVISTA, Procter & Gamble and Oracle Corporation have their European headquarters in the city. Hewlett Packard has its Europe, Africa, and Middle East headquarters inMeyrin, near Geneva. PrivatAir has its headquarters in Meyrin, near Geneva.
There is a long tradition of watch making (Baume et Mercier, Charriol, Chopard, Franck Muller, Patek Philippe, Gallet, Jaeger-LeCoultre,Rolex, Universal Gen�ve, Raymond Weil, Omega, Vacheron Constantin, Fr�d�rique Constant, etc.). Two major international producers offlavours and fragrances, Firmenich and Givaudan, have their headquarters and main production facilities in Geneva.
Many people also work in the numerous offices of international organizations located in Geneva (about 24,000 in 2001).
The Geneva Motor Show is one of the most important international auto shows. It is held at Palexpo, a giant convention centre next to the International Airport.
In 2009, Geneva was ranked as the fourth most expensive city in the world. Geneva moved up four places from eighth place in last year's survey. Geneva is ranked behind Tokyo,Osaka, and Moscow at first, second, and third respectively. Geneva also beat Hong Kong, which came in at fifth place.
As of 2011, Geneva had an unemployment rate of 6.3%. As of 2008, there were five people employed in the primary economic sector and about
