United States yearbook - 1982 (1)

Section 30
Domestic Trade
and Services
This section presents statistics relating to the distributive trades and service industries. Data
shown for the trades, classified by kind o f business, and for the various categories o f services (e.g.,
personal, business, repair, hotel) cover sales or receipts, establishments, employees, payrolls, and
other items. Also included are data for franchised businesses.
The principal sources of these data are census reports and survey reports of the Bureau of the
Census. Data on national income originating in trade and services appear In the m onthly Survey of
Current Business, issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Financial data for firms engaged in
retail, wholesale, or service activities appear in the annual Statistics of income, published by the
Internal Revenue Service.
Censuses.— Censuses of retail trade, wholesale trade, and the service industries have been
taken at various intervals since 1929. Beginning with the 1967 Census, legislation provides for a
census to be conducted every 5 years (for years ending in "2 ” and "7 ” ).
The establishments covered in the censuses and surveys of business are classified into 3 groups
as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972 (see text, page 372). Retail trade
refers to places o f business primarily engaged in selling merchandise for personal o r household
consumption; wholesale trade, to establishments primarily engaged in selling goods to dealers and
distributors for resale or to purchasers who buy for business and farm uses; and services, to establishments
primarily engaged in providing a wide range of services for individuals and for business.
Prior to 1977, the censuses excluded health services (except dental laboratories), educational
services, social services, membership organizations, and others performing a professional or scientific
service (except engineering, architectural, and surveying services). These w ere covered in the
1977 Census of Service Industries. In addition, in 1977, the distinction between taxable and tax
exempt establishments was m ade for all service industries. Table 1465 provides data fo r 1977 for
all tax-exempt establishments with payroll in the service industry, by kind of operation, as well as
data on taxable establishments in industries covered for the first tim e in the 1977 Census. (See
footnote 5, table 1463, fo r industries which for the first time in 1977, are divided between taxable
and tax-exempt establishments.) For comparability, other tables presented are for only those service
industries covered in the 1972 Census of Selected Services. Still excluded in the censuses are
religious organizations, public utilities, and Government-operated enterprises except wholesale and
retail liquor operations.
Data from the 1958 Census exclude retail and service nonemployer establishments which had
receipts of less than $2,500 and $1,000, respectively. Beginning with the 1963 Census, nonemployer
establishments which did not operate the entire year were included if, during the period they
operated, their receipts were at a rate which would have reached the annual totals specified had
they operated the entire year. W holesale trade establishments with no paid em ploym ent are excluded.
Beginning in 1977, nonemployer direct sellers were excluded in the Census of Retail Trade.
Also beginning in 1977, these censuses excluded sales faxes and finance charges in their report of
sales (or receipts) figures.
C urrent surveys.— Current sample surveys conducted by the Bureau of the Census cover various
aspects of the retail and wholesale trades and selected service industries. Its Monthly Retail
Trade Report contains m onthly estimates of sales, inventories, and sales of organizations operating
11 or more retail stores (see table 1441), for the United States, by kind of business. In addition,
monthly retail sales data fo r census regions and divisions, 19 large States, 23 large standard m etropolitan
statistical areas, and 5 large cities are included. Annual figures on sales, yearend inventories,
and sales/inventories ratios, by kind of business, appear in the Annual Retail Trade Report,
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