To answer a question like “how has the number of jobs in an industry changed over time?” one must first establish a definition for the industry. This is not necessarily a simple nor straightforward task.
Historically, many analyses relied upon Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. The SIC system was last updated in 1987. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was initially issued in 1992. SIC codes describe businesses based on the products or services they produce, while NAICS classifies businesses based on the processes used to create the products or services.
In addition to these codes, the Your Economy Time Series developed and maintains its own Market Segment designations.
Industries change over time in response to market forces and innovations. In response to these changes, the US Census issues updated NAICS code definitions every five years – adding new codes to describe burgeoning categories while consolidating and/or reinterpreting others. The 2022 NAICS Code definitions include 238 changes.
These updates present additional challenges for using snapshot-based economic data like QCEW, CES or CBP to study the dynamics of jobs per industry over time. How can we tell if the number of jobs in an industry increased, when the definition of the industry itself was modified?
This is where the Your Economy Time Series provides a strategic advantage. We track NAICS, SIC and Market Segments, for every establishment, for every year. We will be using NAICS Concordances provided by US Census to assign a 2022 NAICS code to each of the 47+ million records in our database. Using this approach, research about the number of jobs in an industry will clearly show the change in the number of jobs – regardless of the definition of the industry.
Example of NAICS changes over time for broadcast media companies.
| SIC | 1997 NAICS | 2002 NAICS | 2007, 2012 and 2017 NAICS | 2022 NAICS | |
| Radio | 4832: Radio Broadcasting | 513111: Radio Networks 513112: Radio Stations | 515111: Radio Networks 515112: Radio Stations | Unchanged from 2002 | 516110: Radio Broadcasting Stations 516210: Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks & Other Media Networks and Content Providers |
| Television | 4832: Television Broadcasting Stations | 513120: Television Broadcasting | 515120: Television Broadcasting | Unchanged from 2002 | 512120: Television Broadcasting Stations |
| Cable | 4841: Cable & Other Pay Television Services | 513210: Cable Networks | 515210: Cable & Other Subscription Programming | Unchanged from 2002 | 516210: Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks & Other Media Networks and Content Providers |
| Internet/Media Streaming | 7374: Services – Computer Processing & Data Preparation | 514199: All Other Information Services | 516110: Internet Publishing and Broadcasting | 519130: Internet Publishing & Broadcasting & Web Search Portals | 516210: Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks & Other Media Networks and Content Providers |