Retail Trade --Summary by Kind of Business statistics


		Establishments		Sales,receipts,		Annual		Paid
Kind of business	1987			revenue/shipments		payroll		employees
	SIC	(1,000)		(mil. dol.)		(mil. dol.)		(1,000)
	code ¹
		1992	1997	1992	1997	1992	1997	1992	1997

Retail trade, total	(G)	1,526	1,561	1,894,880	2,545,881	222,868	290,525	18,407	21,166

Building materials & garden supplies	52	69	67	98,832	146,211	11,790	16,733	666	830
General merchandise stores	53	35	35	245,330	(D)	24,503	(D)	2,079	(²)
Food stores	54	181	171	369,199	416,047	37,228	42,809	2,969	3,109
Automotive dealers	55	202	202	529,853	788,231	39,376	55,502	1,943	2,284
Apparel and accessory stores	56	145	127	101,714	116,614	12,039	13,616	1,145	1,116
Furniture and homefurnishings stores	57	110	115	93,206	136,093	11,869	16,262	702	862
Eating and drinking places	58	434	476	195,317	(D)	52,570	(D)	6,548	(²)
Miscellaneous retail stores	59	351	368	261,429	365,916	33,494	45,440	2,357	2,795

1 Based on 1987 Standard Industrial Classification; see text, Section 13, Labor Force, Employment, and Earnings.
2 100,000 employees or more.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, Core Business Statistics Series, Series EC97X-CS2, June 2000.

http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html * CENSUS OF RETAIL TRADE

PURPOSE

To provide periodic and comprehensive statistics about retail establishments and activities. The United States Code, Title 13, requires this census and provides for mandatory responses.

COVERAGE

Domestic establishments that sell merchandise and related services to the public for personal or household consumption. These are all establishments classified in SIC Division G, excluding nonemployers engaged in direct selling (SIC 5963). In 1992, over 1.5 million employer establishments accounted for retail sales of nearly $1.9 trillion.

CONTENT

Basic data obtained for all establishments include kind of business, geographic location, dollar volume of sales, annual and first quarter payroll, and employment for the pay period including March 12. Establishments receiving a census form provide additional data on organizational status, sales by class of customer, sales by merchandise line, method of selling, and industry-specific measures (such as number of prescriptions by drug stores).

FREQUENCY

Every 5 years since 1972, for years ending in "2" and "7." From 1929 through 1967, retail trade statistics were published periodically as part of the census of business. Data collection begins in December of the census year and responses are due in about 8 weeks. Data are requested for activities taking place during the census calendar year.

METHODS

A mail-out/mail-back data collection for establishments of multi-unit companies, large single-unit employers, and a sample of small employers; and administrative records data for non-selected small employers and all nonemployers. All establishments of multi-unit firms and single-unit employers with annualized payroll above a size cutoff (for most industries, equivalent to about 3 employees) receive a census form. A sample of small employers also receives a census form. This sample is selected using a stratified sampling procedure with strata based on industry and geography. Basic data for non- selected small employers and nonemployers are obtained from Federal administrative records. Estimates for sales by merchandise line and other industry-specific data are based partly on small employer sample results.

*

http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/1272_retail_trade_summary_by_kind_of.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.