American Manufacturing: A History in Census Data

The range of industries covered in the economic census continued to expand. For example, the inclusion of construction industries began in 1967, and the scope of service industries continued to grow.

In 1987 the economic census expanded to include business establishments (a single physical location of a business) engaged in various transportation industries, paralleling data on establishments in other sectors.

The last major expansion of the economic census occurred in 1992, when the Census Bureau added Transportation and Warehousing; Finance and Insurance; Real Estate and Rental and Leasing; Information; and Utilities — industries that today account for more than 20% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The 1997 Economic Census was the first major statistical report to use the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Developed jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, NAICS replaced the older Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to allow greater comparability with international statistics.

The current economic census, together with the separately conducted censuses of agriculture and governments, covers virtually the entire economy.