1992 Economic Census, Definitions of Sectors
See also our national statistics from the
1992 Economic Census.
ENTERPRISE (COMPANY) STATISTICS
The 1992 Enterprise Statistics is a
company level, economy-wide program.
The Company Summary report (ES92-1) is based on data
collected in the 1992 Censuses of Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, Service
Industries, Manufactures, Mineral Industries, Construction Industries,
Transportation, Communication, and Utilities, and Finance, Insurance and
Real Estate.
The 1992 Company Summary includes: Company summary tables; Auxiliary establishment tables; and Large company tables. In 1987 these were three separate publications; Prior to 1987 the Company Summary was called the General Report on Industrial Organization. Table 1. "Company Statistics--United States" provides general non-employer data. Only employer (employing) firms were included for all other tables.
Company summary tables are based on responses from the many different 1992 Economic Censuses report forms. Each of the economic census questionnaires includes several general questions such as kind-of-business classification, dollar volume of business, number of employees, amount of payroll, and company affiliation. This report presents census data collected for establishments (i.e., individual stores, factories, mines, etc.) aggregated to the company level, using the company affiliation information obtained from each business and industrial firm covered in the 1992 Economic Censuses. Virtually all economic census publications present information only for establishments. This publication, however, is unique among census reports in that it provides data for entire companies and their owned establishments. An establishment is defined as a business or industrial unit as a single physical location which produces or distributes goods or performs services. A company is a business organization consisting of all establishments under common ownership or control. The resulting tables furnish comprehensive data on the industrial organization, size structure, and legal form of organization of all census reporting firms and the establishments they own or control.
Auxiliary establishment tables present data on separately reported auxiliary units of multiestablishment firms. The primary functions of these establishments are to manage, administer, service, or support the activities of the other establishments of the company. The table furnishes statistics of auxiliaries by industry classification of the owning company and the type of management or supporting service function they provide.
The large company data is based on responses from a separate 1992 economic census report form sent to companies with 500 employees or more. The resulting table shows selected financial statistics of large companies.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES
The 1992 Census of Construction Industries covers all
employer establishments (establishments with payroll)
primarily engaged in contract construction or construction
on their own account for sale as defined in the 1987
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual.
Three broad types of construction establishments are recognized:
General contractors and operative builders.
General building contractors are primarily engaged in the construction of dwellings, office buildings, stores, farm buildings, and other building projects. Operative builders who build on their own account for sale are also included here. However, investment builders who build structures on their own account for rent are classified in Real Estate.
Heavy construction general contractors.
Heavy construction general contractors are primarily engaged in the construction of highways, bridges, pipelines, sewers and water lines, marine construction, power, and petro- chemical plants and other nonbuilding construction projects. Special trade contractors are classified in heavy construction if they are specifically engaged in the following activities: grading for highway and airport runways; guardrail construction; installation of highway signs; asphalt and concrete construction of roads, highways, streets and public sidewalks; trenching, cable laying; conduit construction; underwater rock removal; pipeline wrapping; or land clearing and leveling.
Special trade contractors.
These contractors include plumbers, painters, carpenters, electricians, brick layers, roofers, etc. For the most part, they perform their work at the site of construction, although they may also have shops where they perform work incidental to the job site.
MINERAL INDUSTRIES
The 1992 Census of Mineral Industries covers all establishments with one
paid employee or more primarily engaged in mining as defined in the 1987
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual.
The SIC Manual defines mining in the broad sense to include the extraction of minerals occurring naturally: solids such as coal and ores, liquids such as crude petroleum, and gases such as natural gas. The term "mining" is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operation, milling (crushing, screening, washing, flotation, etc.), and other preparations needed to make minerals marketable. Exploration is included as is the development of mineral properties. Services performed on a contract, fee, or other basis in the exploration and development of mineral properties are classified separately but within this division.
Mining operations are classified by industry on the basis of the principal mineral produced or, if there is no production, on the basis of the principal mineral for which exploration or development work is in progress. The recovery of material from culm banks, ore dumps, and other waste mineral piles is classified in the appropriate mining industry according to the mineral product recovered.
The crushing, grinding, or other treatment of certain earths, rocks, and other nonmetallic minerals not in conjunction with mining activities is not included in this division but is classified as manufacturing. Hauling and other transportation beyond the mine property and contract hauling (except out of open pits in conjunction with mining) also are excluded.
Mining operations carried on as secondary activities at manufacturing establishments (such as clay pits at clay products plants or sand and gravel operations at ready-mixed concrete plants) are not within the scope of this census. However, selected data (production workers' wages and hours; total cost of supplies, fuels, electric energy, and contract work; and quantity of production for mined products) on such mining activities have been obtained in the 1992 Census of Manufactures and are included in the mining reports. They are clearly specified wherever included.
MANUFACTURING
The 1992 Census of Manufactures covers all establishments with one paid
employee or more primarily engaged in manufacturing as defined in the 1987
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual. This is the system of
industrial classification developed by experts on classification in
Government and private industry under the guidance of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. This
classification system is used by Government agencies as well as many
organizations outside the Government.
The SIC Manual defines manufacturing as the mechanical or chemical transformation of substances or materials into new products. The assembly of component parts of products also is considered to be manufacturing if the resulting product is neither a structure nor other fixed improvement. These activities are usually carried on in plants, factories, or mills that characteristically use power-driven machines and materials-handling equipment.
Manufacturing production is usually carried on for the wholesale market, for transfers to other plants of the same company, or to the order of industrial users rather than for direct sale to the household consumer. Some manufacturers in a few industries sell chiefly at retail to household consumers through the mail, through house-to-house routes, or through salespersons. Some activities of a service nature (enameling, engraving, etc.) are included in manufacturing when they are performed primarily for trade. They are considered nonmanufacturing when they are performed primarily to the order of the household consumer.
TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATIONS, AND UTILITIES
WHOLESALE TRADE
Wholesale trade, major groups 50 and 51 in the 1987 SIC manual, includes
establishments primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to
industrial, commercial, institutional, farm, or professional business users;
or to other wholesalers; or acting as agents or brokers in buying
merchandise for or selling merchandise to such persons or companies.
The principal types of establishments included are:
Merchant wholesalers who take title to the goods they sell, such as wholesale merchants or jobbers, industrial distributors, voluntary group wholesalers, drop shippers, retailer cooperative warehouses, terminal elevators, and cooperative buying associations.
Manufacturers' sales branches and offices (but not retail stores) maintained by manufacturing or mining enterprises apart from their plants or mines for the purpose of marketing their products. Sales branches and offices located at plants are included when separate records are available.
Agents, brokers, and commission merchants who buy or sell products owned by others on a commission or agency basis.
Establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of used products are classified on the basis of the product sold. Establishments primarily engaged in selling merchandise to contractors are included in wholesale trade, with the exception of lumber yards and paint, glass, and wallpaper stores. These exceptions are classified in retail trade if they consider themselves retail, sell to the general public, and their sales to contractors and the general public is more than half their total sales.
RETAIL TRADE
Retail trade, SIC major groups 52 through 59 in the SIC manual,
includes establishments primarily engaged in selling merchandise
for personal or household consumption and rendering services
incidental to the sale of the goods. Exceptions to this general
rule are lumber yards; paint, glass, and wallpaper stores;
typewriter stores; stationery stores; and gasoline service
stations, which sell to both the general public for personal and
household consumption and to businesses. These types of stores are
included in retail trade even if a higher proportion of their sales
is made to other than individuals for personal or household
consumption. However, such establishments that sell their products
only to institutional or industrial users and to other wholesalers
and establishments that sell similar merchandise for use
exclusively by business establishments are classified in wholesale
trade.
Other important characteristics of retail trade establishments are that they are usually places of business; they are engaged in activities to attract the general public to buy; they buy or receive as well as sell merchandise; they may process their products, although processing is incidental or subordinate to selling; and they are considered as retail in the trade. Not all of these characteristics need be present and some are modified by trade practice.
The retail trade industries were covered in the 1992 Economic and Agriculture Census. However, retail establishments of the following types were excluded from census coverage:
Federal, State, and local government agencies that sold merchandise, other than liquor stores operated by State and local governments.
Officers' clubs and officers' open messes (classified based on primary activity with a T/O code of 90); and public school lunch programs except those which operated on a fee or contract basis (classified based on primary activity with a T/O code of 55).
The following types of retail establishments were covered in the census:
Appliance stores owned by public utilities if the establishments were primarily engaged in selling appliances to customers.
Liquor stores operated by State and local governments.
Establishments covered by the census were assigned kind-of-business classifications according to the industry classifications defined in the 1987 SIC manual. When a more detailed classification than defined in the SIC manual was needed, additional kinds of business were identified within a SIC industry.
In general, retail establishments were classified according to the principal lines of commodities sold (groceries, hardware, etc.), or the usual trade designation (drug store, cigar store, etc.).
FINANCIAL, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE INDUSTRIES
Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, as defined in Division H of
the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) manual,
includes establishments operating primarily in the fields of
finance, insurance, and real estate. Finance includes depository
institutions, nondepository credit institutions, holding (but not
predominantly operating) companies, other investment companies,
brokers and dealers in securities and commodity contracts, and
security and commodity exchanges. Insurance covers carriers of
all types of insurance and insurance agents and brokers. Real
estate includes owners, lessors, lessees, agents, and developers
of real estate.
SERVICE INDUSTRIES
Services, as defined in Division I of the 1987 Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) manual, includes establishments primarily
engaged in rendering a wide variety of services to individuals,
business and government establishments, and other organizations.
This data separate service establishments of firms subject to Federal income tax from firms which are exempt from Federal income tax under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Only establishments with some payroll during the year are included.
Revised 12/22/97
