Information: NAICS 51

About the Information sector

The information sector is part of the service-providing industries supersector group.

The Information sector comprises establishments engaged in the following processes: (a) producing and distributing information and cultural products, (b) providing the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications, and (c) processing data.

The main components of this sector are the publishing industries, including software publishing, and both traditional publishing and publishing exclusively on the Internet; the motion picture and sound recording industries; the broadcasting industries, including traditional broadcasting and those broadcasting exclusively over the Internet; the telecommunications industries; Web search portals, data processing industries, and the information services industries.

The Information sector groups three types of establishments: (1) those engaged in producing and distributing information and cultural products; (2) those that provide the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications; and (3) those that process data.

North American Industry Classification System

The information sector consists of these subsectors:

NOTE: The NAICS 2002 subsector Internet Publishing and Broadcasting: NAICS 516 has been discontinued in NAICS 2007 and the establishments that had been classified in this subsector have been moved into Other Information Services: NAICS 519.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in information. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, Layoffs, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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3,002 2,997 (P) 2,988 (P) 2,985

Employment, nonsupervisory workers (seasonally adjusted)

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2,397 2,393 (P) 2,386 (P) 2,385

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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5.0% 4.7% 4.1% 4.2%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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56 47 42  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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9,251 5,078 4,069  

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

 

Job openings

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66 74 (P) 57  

Hires

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54 60 (P) 40  

Separations

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53 63 (P) 57  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
2004 2005 2006 2007

Union membership and representation

 

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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14.2% 13.6% 12.0% 12.1%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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15.4% 14.4% 13.0% 13.1%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment

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data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)

 

Gross job gains

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138 160 153 145

Gross job losses

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132 137 155 155

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

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data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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18 29 (P) 27 (P) 37

Separations

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2,415 5,061 (P) 7,330 (P) 5,649

Initial claimants

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2,713 7,215 (P) 5,697 (P) 4,904

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Computer software engineers, applications

68,810

Computer support specialists

59,420

Customer service representatives

204,880

Network and computer systems administrators

41,730

Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers

132,230

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for information.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in information. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

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data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$24.67 $24.74 (P) $24.87 (P) $24.86

Average weekly hours

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36.6 36.6 (P) 36.7 (P) 36.7

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

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data
Median weekly earnings
2004 2005 2006 2007

Union membership and representation

 

Full-time workers

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$828 $832 $871 $891

Members of unions

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$893 $931 $998 $1,000

Represented by unions

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$887 $925 $990 $994

Nonunion

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$808 $810 $841 $867

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Computer software engineers, applications

$40.76 $41.38 $84,780 $86,070

Computer support specialists

$20.41 $22.15 $42,450 $46,080

Customer service representatives

$15.08 $16.66 $31,360 $34,660

Network and computer systems administrators

$33.31 $34.14 $69,280 $71,000

Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers

$26.95 $26.19 $56,050 $54,480

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs

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data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

12-month percent change

 

Total compensation

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2.7% 2.8% 1.7% 0.6%

Wages and salaries

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2.5% 2.8% 1.4% 1.3%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)



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data
2nd quarter 2008
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation

Compensation costs

 

Total compensation

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38.92 100.0

Wages and salaries

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26.93 69.2

Total benefits

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11.99 30.8

Insurance

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3.16 8.1

Retirement

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1.49 3.8

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in information. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

58 66 67 (P) 77

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

2.0 2.1 1.9  

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.1 1.1 1.0  

Cases involving days away from work

0.8 0.7 0.7  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.4 0.4 0.4  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Producer price index

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(P) 102.0 (P) 101.8 (P) 102.0 (P) 102.5

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) -0.2% (P) -0.2% (P) 0.2% (P) 0.5%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in information.

Establishments

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data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 143,111 (P) 143,829 (P) 144,653 (P) 145,246

Local government

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(P) 4,996 (P) 5,022 (P) 5,020 (P) 5,019

State government

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(P) 329 (P) 331 (P) 331 (P) 330

Federal government

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(P) 70 (P) 70 (P) 69 (P) 71

Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)

 

With job gains (seasonally adjusted)

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32 31 32 32

With job losses (seasonally adjusted)

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33 31 32 33

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: September 16, 2008