1 Prior to 1987, totals for employees and annual payroll have beenrevised. Detail may not add to totals because revisions for size class are not available.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, annual.

http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html

COUNTY BUSINESS PATTERNS

INTRODUCTION

County Business Patterns is an annual series that provides subnationaleconomic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economicactivity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as abenchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economiccensuses. The series serves various business uses such as analyzing marketpotential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs,setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. The data are also used bygovernment agencies for administration and planning.

Most of the Nation's economic activity is covered in this series. Data areexcluded for self-employed persons, domestic service workers, railroademployees, agricultural production workers, most government employees, andemployees on ocean-borne vessels or in foreign countries. Data are providedby industry in the following economic divisions: agricultural services,forestry, and fishing; mining; construction; manufacturing; transportationand public utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance,and real estate; and services. Data are tabulated by industry as defined inthe Standard Industrial Classification Manual: 1987.

This series has been published annually since 1964 and at irregularintervals dating back to 1946. The comparability of data over time may beaffected by definitional changes in establishments, activity status, andindustrial classifications. For more details on these changes, see thesection "Comparability With Other Data."

SOURCES OF DATA

County Business Patterns basic data items are extracted from the BusinessRegister, a file of all known single and multiestablishment companiesmaintained and updated by the Bureau of the Census. The annual CompanyOrganization Survey provides individual establishment data formultiestablishment companies. Data for single-establishment companies areobtained from various Census Bureau programs, such as the Annual Survey ofManufactures and Current Business Surveys, as well as from administrativerecords of the Internal Revenue Service and the Social SecurityAdministration.*DEFINITIONS OF BASIC DATA ITEMS

Establishments

An establishment is a single physical location at which business isconducted or services or industrial operations are performed. It is notnecessarily identical with a company or enterprise, which may consist ofone or more establishments. When two or more activities are carried on at asingle location under a single ownership, all activities generally aregrouped together as a single establishment. The entire establishment isclassified on the basis of its major activity and all data are included inthat classification.

Administrative and auxiliary establishments primarily manage, administer,service, or support the activities of other establishments of the samecompany rather than the establishments of other companies or the generalpublic. Data for these establishments are shown separately by industrydivision.

Establishment-size designations are determined by paid employment in themid-March pay period. The size group "1 to 4" includes establishments thatdid not report any paid employees in the mid-March pay period but paidwages to at least one employee at some time during the year.

Establishment counts represent the number of locations with paid employeesany time during the year. This series excludes governmental establishmentsexcept for liquor stores (SIC 592), wholesale liquor establishments (SIC518), depository institutions (SIC 60), federal and federally-sponsoredcredit agencies (SIC 611), and hospitals (SIC 806).

Payroll

Total payroll includes all forms of compensation, such as salaries, wages,reported tips, commissions, bonuses, vacation allowances, sick-leave pay,employee contributions to qualified pension plans, and the value of taxablefringe benefits. For corporations, it includes amounts paid to officers andexecutives; for unincorporated businesses, it does not include profit orother compensation of proprietors or partners. Payroll is reported beforedeductions for Social Security, income tax, insurance, union dues, etc.First-quarter payroll consists of payroll during the January-to-Marchquarter.

Mid-March Employment

Paid employment consists of full- and part-time employees, includingsalaried officers and executives of corporations, who are on the payroll inthe pay period including March 12. Included are employees on paid sickleave, holidays, and vacations; not included are proprietors and partnersof unincorporated businesses.

INDUSTRY AND GEOGRAPHY CLASSIFICATIONS

The quinquennial economic censuses are the primary source for industry andgeography classifications. The annual Company Organization Survey, AnnualSurvey of Manufactures, Current Business Surveys, and other Census Bureauprograms provide regular updates.

Industry Classification

Additional sources for assigning industry classifications are the SocialSecurity Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Bureau ofLabor Statistics. These sources provide industry classification informationfor new businesses and businesses not canvassed in the Census Bureauprograms. Establishments without sufficient industry information aretabulated in the "unclassified establishments" group.

In a few instances, the most detailed industry classifications for whichdata are shown represent a combination of more detailed SIC industries. Thedata for these establishments are included in the tabulations at a broaderindustry level. For this reason, the sum of industry components publishedin this series may not equal the total shown.

The industry titles used throughout this series are the short SIC titles;complete descriptions are contained in the Standard IndustrialClassification Manual: 1987.

Geography Classification

Most geography codes are derived from the physical location addressreported in Census Bureau programs. The Internal Revenue Service providessupplemental address information. Those employers without a fixed locationwithin a state (or of unknown county location) are included under a"statewide" classification at the end of the county tables. This incompletedetail causes only slight understatement of county employment. Theindependent cities in Virginia, and the cities of Baltimore, MD; CarsonCity, NV; and St. Louis, MO, are treated as separate counties.

COMPARABILITY WITH OTHER DATA

Earlier County Business Patterns

The comparability of data with previous County Business Patterns series maybe affected by the following definitional changes:

* the change from a "reporting unit" concept to establishment based data in 1974 * the change in definition of "active" establishments in 1983 * the change in industrial classification definitions, the most recent occurring in 1988

1992 Economic Census

In comparing the employment and payroll shown in this series with economiccensuses data, the user should bear in mind that definitional and coveragedifferences may affect the direct comparison of data items. The definitionsare detailed in the introductory texts of the appropriate publications.

The economic census present data reported for individual establishments;whereas, County Business Patterns are based primarily on administrativerecords and data reported from current surveys. While every effort is madeto resolve significant differences for the same establishment, differencesare known to exist.

DATA WITHHELD FROM PUBLICATION

In accordance with U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 9, no data are publishedthat would disclose the operations of an individual employer. However, thenumber of establishments in an industry classification and the distributionof these establishments by employment-size class are not considered to bedisclosures, and so this information may be released even though otherinformation is withheld from publications.

RELIABILITY OF DATA

All data are tabulated from universe files and are not subject to samplingerrors. However, the data are subject to nonsampling errors. Nonsamplingerrors can be attributed to many sources: inability to identify all casesin the universe; definition and classification difficulties; differences ininterpretation of questions; errors in recording or coding the dataobtained; and estimation of employers who reported too late to be includedin the tabulations and for records with missing or misreported data.

The accuracy of the data is determined by the joint effects of the variousnonsampling errors. No direct measurement of these effects has beenobtained; however, precautionary steps were taken in all phases ofcollection, processing, and tabulation to minimize the effects ofnonsampling errors.

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