/*SHORT TITLE:  Introduction to the Economic Census   */

Introduction to the Economic Census  
  
  
=>PURPOSES AND USES OF THE ECONOMIC CENSUS  
  
  The economic census is the major source of facts about the structure  
and functioning of the Nation's economy.  It provides essential  
information for government, business, industry, and the general public.  
  
  The economic census furnishes an important part of the framework for  
such composite measures as the gross domestic product, input/output  
measures, production and price indexes, and other statistical series  
that measure short-term changes in economic conditions.  
  
  Policymaking agencies of the Federal Government use the data,  
especially in monitoring economic activity and providing assistance to  
business.  
  
  State and local governments use the data to assess business activities  
and tax bases within their jurisdictions and to develop programs to  
attract business.  
  
  Trade associations study trends in their own and competing industries  
and keep their members informed of market changes.  
  
  Individual businesses use the data to locate potential markets and to  
analyze their own production and sales performance relative to industry  
or area averages.  
  
=>AUTHORITY AND SCOPE  
  
  Title 13 of the United States Code (sections 131, 191, and 224) directs  
the Census Bureau to take the economic census every 5 years, covering  
years ending in 2 and 7.  The 1992 Economic Census consists of the  
following eight censuses:  
  
Census of Retail Trade  
Census of Wholesale Trade  
Census of Service Industries  
Census of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate Industries  
Census of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities  
Census of Manufactures  
Census of Mineral Industries  
Census of Construction Industries  
  
Special programs also cover enterprise statistics and minority-owned  
and women-owned businesses.  (The 1992 Census of Agriculture and 1992  
Census of Governments are conducted separately.)  The next economic  
census is scheduled to be taken in 1998 covering the year 1997.  
  
=>AVAILABILITY OF THE DATA  
  
  The results of the economic census are available in printed reports for  
sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office and on compact discs for  
sale by the Census Bureau.  Order forms for all types of products are  
available on request from Customer Services, Bureau of the Census,  
Washington, DC 20233-8300.  A more complete description of publications  
being issued from this census is on the inside back cover of this  
document.  
  
  Census facts are also widely disseminated by trade associations,  
business journals, and newspapers.  Volumes containing census statistics  
are available in most major public and college libraries.  Finally,  
State Data Centers in every State as well as business and industry data  
centers in many States also supply economic census statistics.  
  
=>WHAT'S NEW IN 1992  
  
  The 1992 Economic Census covers more of the economy than any previous  
census.  New for 1992 are data on communications, utilities, finance,  
insurance, and real estate, as well as coverage of more transportation  
industries.  The economic, agriculture, and governments censuses now  
collectively cover nearly 98 percent of all economic activity.  
  
  Among other changes, new 1992 definitions affect the boundaries of  
about a third of all metropolitan areas.  Also, the Survey of  
Women-Owned Businesses has now been expanded to include "C"  
corporations.  
  
=>HISTORICAL INFORMATION  
  
  The economic census has been taken as an integrated program at 5-year  
intervals since 1967 and before that for 1963, 1958, and 1954.  Prior to  
that time, the individual subcomponents of the economic census were  
taken separately at varying intervals.  
  
  The economic census traces its beginnings to the 1810 Decennial Census,  
when questions on manufacturing were included with those for  
population.  Coverage of economic activities was expanded for 1840 and  
subsequent censuses to include mining and some commercial activities.   
In 1902, Congress established a permanent Census Bureau and directed  
that a census of manufactures be taken every 5 years.  The 1905  
Manufactures Census was the first time a census was taken apart from  
the regular every-10-year population census.  
  
  The first census of business was taken in 1930, covering 1929.   
Initially it covered retail and wholesale trade and construction  
industries, but it was broadened in 1933 to include some of the service  
trades.  
  
  The 1954 Economic Census was the first census to be fully  
integrated--providing comparable census data across economic sectors,  
using consistent time periods, concepts, definitions, classifications,  
and reporting units.  It was the first census to be taken by mail, using  
lists of firms provided by the administrative records of other Federal  
agencies.  Since 1963, administrative records also have been used to  
provide basic statistics for very small firms, reducing or eliminating  
the need to send them census questionnaires.  The Enterprise Statistics  
Program, which publishes combined data from the economic census, was  
made possible with the implementation of the integrated census program  
in 1954.  
  
  The range of industries covered in the economic censuses has continued  
to expand.  The census of construction industries began on a regular  
basis in 1967, and the scope of service industries was broadened in  
1967, 1977, and 1987.  The census of transportation began in 1963 as a  
set of surveys covering travel, transportation of commodities, and  
trucks, but expanded in 1987 to cover business establishments in  
several transportation industries.  For 1992, these statistics are  
incorporated into a broadened census of transportation, communications,  
and utilities.  Also new for 1992 is the census of financial, insurance,  
and real estate industries.  This is part of a gradual expansion in  
coverage of industries previously subjected to government regulation.  
  
  The Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises was first conducted  
as a special project in 1969 and was incorporated into the economic  
census in 1972 along with the Survey of Women-Owned Businesses.  
  
  An economic census has also been taken in Puerto Rico since 1909, in  
the Virgin Islands of the United States and Guam since 1958, and in the  
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands since 1982.  
  
  Statistical reports from the 1987 and earlier censuses provide  
historical figures for the study of long-term time series and are  
available in some large libraries.  All of the census data published  
since 1967 are still available for sale on microfiche from the Census  
Bureau.  
  
=>AVAILABILITY OF MORE FREQUENT ECONOMIC DATA  
  
  While the census provides complete enumerations every 5 years, there  
are many needs for more frequent data as well.  The Census Bureau  
conducts a number of monthly, quarterly, and annual surveys, with the  
results appearing in publication series such as Current Business  
Reports (retail and wholesale trade and service industries), the Annual  
Survey of Manufactures, Current Industrial Reports, and the Quarterly  
Financial Report.  Most of these surveys, while providing more frequent  
observations, yield less kind-of-business and geographic detail than  
the census.  The County Business Patterns program offers annual  
statistics on the number of establishments, employment, and payroll  
classified by industry within each county.  
  
=>SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION  
  
  More information about the scope, coverage, classification system, data  
items, and publications for each of the economic censuses and related  
surveys is published in the Guide to the 1992 Economic Census and  
Related Statistics.  More information on the methodology,  
procedures, and history of the censuses will be published in the  
History of the 1992 Economic Census.  Contact Customer  
Services for information on availability.