Sector 42: Wholesale Trade

	Questions about this sector			List of all forms in this sector
	General Q's and A's

This section provides information about census coverage and reporting for establishments in the Wholesale Trade sector. It includes answers to frequently asked questions about this sector and its census forms.

Establishments Covered

Wholesale establishments buy and sell products that are intended for resale, are intended for use in another business, or are sold using wholesale methods of selling. They include branches and offices that sell their parent company's products at wholesale, and establishments that receive commissions or fees for arranging the sale of goods owned by others. NAICS classifies establishments in the Wholesale Trade sector using numbers that start with 42. The Economic Census covers all wholesale establishments that operated during all or part of calendar year 2002.

Census Mail Package

Wholesale establishments with paid employees will receive a census mail package with two types of materials. The materials are similar in content but customized to make reporting easier for different groups of wholesale establishments. Each establishment will receive an Information Sheet and census form.

Information Sheets provide general information about the census and instructions for reporting selected items on the census form. Single establishment businesses will receive Information Sheet WH-S(I) and multi-establishment businesses will receive Information Sheet WH-M(I).

Census Forms describe each data item for wholesale establishments, and provide instructions and formats for reporting it. Census forms for wholesale establishments are numbered WH-42xxx. Forms are tailored to industry groups and forty separate forms are available for use by different kinds of wholesale establishments.