Change in Industry Classification Systems
The year 2000 data was the last from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
(ES-202) program using the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
system. With the release of data for 2001, the program switched
to the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
as the basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry.
NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort on the part of the statistical
agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Due to differences in
NAICS and SIC structures, data for 2001 is not comparable to the
SIC-based data for earlier years.
NAICS uses a production-oriented approach to categorize economic units.
Units with similar production processes are classified in the same industry.
NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed to
the SIC focus on what is produced. This approach yields significantly
different industry groupings than those produced by the SIC approach.
Data users will be able to work with new NAICS industrial groupings that
better reflect the workings of the U.S. economy. For example, a new industry
sector called Information brings together units that turn information
into a commodity with units that distribute the commodity and units that
provide information services. Information's major components are
publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications, information services, and data
processing. Under the SIC system, these units were spread across the
manufacturing, communications, business services, and amusement services
groups. Another new sector of interest is Professional, Scientific, and
Technical Services. This sector is comprised of establishments engaged
in activities where human capital is the major input.
Users interested in more information about NAICS can access the BLS web page
at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm
or the Bureau of
the Census web page at http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.
The NAICS 2002 manual is available from the National
Technical Information Service.
Last Modified Date: February 26, 2003
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