only the 14th in population. Formerly, unemployment has been negatively affected by the breakdown of non-competitive former GDR industries after the German reunification in the 1990s. As of 2018 unemployment is the lowest in more than 15 years while the economy is growing and the number of jobs is increasing continually. Growing sectors are biotechnology, information technology, life sciences, maritime industry and tourist services. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, approximately 732,200 people were gainfully employed in 2008 with 657,100 of them were white and blue collar workers. About 4,200 new jobs were created in 2007. Employees worked an average of 1,455 hours a year. The number of self-employed did not change in 2008. Three out of every four of all workers are employed in the service sector. In October 2018 the unemployment rate stood at 7.1% and was the third highest rate in Germany. Tourism Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the top destination for intra-German tourism and is gaining importance for international tourism. The main tourist regions are: Islands: Rugia and Usedom (Germany's two largest islands), Poel and Hiddensee; Peninsula: Fischland-Darß-Zingst (with Ahrenshoop and Zingst); Seaside resorts: Binz, Boltenhagen, Graal-Müritz, Heringsdorf (including Bansin and Ahlbeck), Heiligendamm, Kühlungsborn, Warnemünde and Zinnowitz; Stettin Lagoon: Ueckermünde; Hinterland: particularly the Mecklenburg Lakeland; and Cities: Stralsund and Wismar (both listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites), Schwerin, Güstrow, Rostock and Greifswald, which have a diverse cultural heritage. Night sky: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is home to some of the most pristine night skies in Germany, especially in the area near Nationalpark Müritz. It is a potential site for a Dark Sky Park. As a reminder of its rich history, nearly 2,000 castles, palaces and manor houses exist in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, many of which are used as venues for public events like concerts and festivals, such as Festpiele MV (a classical music festival). Medical tourism based on the clean air and idyllic settings by the Baltic Sea has a growing importance to the regional tourism industry. Sport Main sporting attractions include the German football league games of F.C. Hansa Rostock and the international sailing event Hanse Sail. If the bid for the 2012 summer Olympics in Leipzig had been successful, the sailing competitions would have taken place off the coast of Rostock. Notable people Notable from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern include: Arts: Ernst Barlach, Friedrich von Flotow, Caspar David Friedrich, Marianne Hoppe, Till Lindemann, Philipp Otto Runge Business: Ernst Heinkel, Carl Heinrich von Siemens, Leonhard Tietz, Georg Wertheim Literature: Ernst