United States yearbook - 1982 (1)

S e c t i o n 2 9
Manufactures
This section presents summary data for manufacturing as a whole and more detailed information
for major industry groups and selected specific products. The types of measures shown at the different
levels include data for establishments; employment and wages; raw materials, fuels, and
electricity consumed; plant and equipment expenditures; value and quantity of production and shipments;
value added by manufacture; inventories; and various indicators of financial status.
The principal sources of these data are Bureau of the Census reports of the censuses of manufactures
conducted every five years; the Annual Survey o f M anufactures; and the C urrent In d u s tria l
R eports series, which presents monthly, quarterly, or annual data on production, shipments, and
stocks for particular commodities. Indexes of industrial production are presented monthly in the
Federal Reserve Board's Federal Reserve Bulletin. Reports on current activities of Industries, or
current movements of individual commodities, are compiled by such government agencies as the
Bureau of Labor Statistics; the Economics and Statistics Service of the Department of Agriculture;
the International Trade Administration; and by private research or trade associations such as The
Conference Board, Inc., New York, and the American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington, D.C.
Data on financial aspects of manufacturing industries are collected by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Industry aggregates in the form of balance
sheets, profit and loss statements, analyses of sales and expenses, lists of subsidiaries, and
types and amounts of security issues are published for leading manufacturing corporations registered
with the SEC. The BEA issues data on capital in manufacturing industries and capacity utilization
rates in manufacturing. The FTC has made several comprehensive studies of individual industries.
See also Section 1B, Business Enterprise in this edition.
Censuses and annual surveys.—The first census of manufactures covered the year 1809. Between
1809 and 1963, a census was conducted at periodic intervals. Since 1967 it has been taken
every 5 years (for years ending in “ 2” and "7” ). Census data, either direct reports or estimates
from administrative records, are obtained for every manufacturing plant with one employee or more.
The Annual Survey of Manufactures, conducted for the first time in 1949, collects data for the
years between censuses for the more general measures of manufacturing activity covered in detail
by the censuses. The annual survey data are estimates derived from a scientifically selected
sample of establishments. The most recent, 1980, annual survey is based on a sample of about
56,000 establishments of an approximate total of 350,000. It comprises all large plants, which account
for approximately two-thirds of total U.S. manufacturing employment, and a representative
selection of the more numerous small plants. Government-owned and -operated establishments are
excluded.
The basic statistical measures of manufacturing activity, such as employment, payrolls, value
added, etc., are defined in essentially the same way for both the annual surveys and the census of
manufactures. However, the bases for computing average employment vary for different years. For
example, beginning with 1949, average employment was calculated from the figures reported for
the pay periods ending nearest the 15th of March, May, August, and November, whereas for 1947
such averages were based on 12 monthly employment figures. In 1967, the average employment
calculation was revised to the pay periods which include the 12th of March, May, August, and November
to provide data more comparable with other statistical series.
Establishments and classification.—The censuses of manufactures for 1947 through 1977
cover operating manufacturing establishments as defined in the S tandard In d ustria l C lassification
M anual (SIC), Issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (see text, p. 372). The M anual
is also used for classifying establishments in the annual surveys. The comparability of manufactures
data over time is affected by changes in the official definitions of industries as presented in the
M anual. It is important to note therefore that the 1972 edition of the M anual was used for the 1972
and 1977 censuses while the 1967 M anual was used for the 1967 census. For the censuses from
1947 to 1963, reports were required from all establishments employing one or more persons at any
time during the census year. For the 1967 and 1972 censuses, reports were required only from
establishments with 10 or more employees and establishments operated by multi-establishment
companies. Data for single unit companies with less than 10 employees were estimated on the
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