Industry Information

SBDCNET – Small Business Development Center National Information Clearinghouse, has a section called “Industry Research” that links to key websites, associations, and publications for a small number of major industries. There are also links to SIC and NAICS codes lists; the US Census County Business Patterns, which has county level economic data by industry; the US Economic Census; and BizStats, which has small business industry statistics. This is a good place to start a search for industry information.

SpecialIssues.com, tracks “special issues” of trade and industry journals in dozens of industries. These publications include industry outlooks, overviews, or surveys; statistical issues; company ranking lists; buyers guides; salary surveys; product/industry focus issues; membership directories; who's who registers; tradeshow specials; etc. A link is included to the actual article or issue, when available on the web. Otherwise, you will need to obtain the issue through a library or obtain it for a fee from a document delivery service or the publisher. Annual subscription fees start at $300 and include a monthly newsletter and access to reference help from site founder Trip Wycoff.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis—Industry Economic Accounts, prepares and publishes a variety of economic statistics on industries. It offers gross domestic product by industry, input-output accounts, and two satellite accounts—one for transportation and one for travel and tourism. The website offers an Information Guide that explains these statistics and how to use them. You can view the interactive tables online or download the Excel files.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—Industry at a Glance, consists of profiles of 12 industry supersectors such as construction, education and health services, financial activities, and wholesale and retail trade. Each profile contains a variety of facts about the supersector and links to additional statistics.

U.S. Census Bureau—Economic Census, profiles American business every 5 years, from the national to the local level. The 2002 Economic Census covers nearly all of the U.S. economy—services-producing industries as well as goods-producing industries—in its basic collection of establishment statistics. Reports are based on 2002 NAICS categories. Several key statistics are tabulated for all industries covered in the Economic Census, including number of establishments (or companies), number of employees, payroll, and measure of output (sales, receipts, revenue, value of shipments, or value of construction work done). Other items vary by sector.

U.S. Census Bureau—Current Industrial Reports, provide monthly, quarterly, and annual measures of industrial activity. “The primary objective of the CIR program is to produce timely, accurate data on production and shipments of selected products. The data are used to satisfy economic policy needs and for market analysis, forecasting, and decision-making in the private sector. These surveys measure manufacturing activity in important commodity areas such as textiles and apparel, chemicals, primary metals, computer and electronic components, industrial equipment, aerospace equipment, and consumer goods.” You can browse the reports by subject title or NAICS subsector.

Valuation Resources, has a section called Industry Information Resources. It provides links to industry resources for over 250 industries. “Individual pages for each industry list resources available from trade associations, publications, and research firms which address subjects such as industry overview, issues, trends, and outlook, financial ratios and benchmarking, compensation surveys, and valuation resources.”