79 Guide Industries

This section overviews the raw and created industry variables available for the NLSY79 main cohort. Two sets of variables are available for each survey year that provide information on the type of industry in which a respondent worked. Verbatim responses to questions such as “What kind of business or industry is this? What do they make or do?” have been recorded within the NLSY79 questionnaires and Employer Supplements during each year’s survey. Coding of responses is performed at NORC using the 1970 and, for the CPS job only, the 1980 Census industrial classification systems (Census 1971, 1980). The Census system consists of 14 industry groups, representing more than 19,000 industries (see Figure 4.23.1).

Beginning in 1994, NLSY79 CAPI surveys are preloaded with the last industry and occupation. To reduce errors and save on the amount of coding, each respondent is asked if the industry and occupation reported last time is still correct. Only if the respondent states this information is no longer correct is the industry or occupation recoded.

The first set of NLSY79 variables, ‘Type of Business or Industry of Most Recent Job (CPS Item),’ reflects the industry for the current or most recent job of those respondents who reported working for pay since the last interview. Included are those whose survey week activity was “working” as well as respondents who were unemployed or out of the labor force during the survey week but who had worked for pay since the last interview. The 1970 Census classification system is used to code industry information from the 1979–2000 surveys; industries of a respondent’s most recent job identified during the 1982–2000 surveys are doublecoded with the 1970 and 1980 Census codes. Tables 4.23.1 and 4.23.2 give the number of respondents in each industry category in the survey years 1979–2000 by sex. Beginning with the 2002 survey all occupations and industries were coded with 2000 codes only. Tables 4.23.3 and 4.23.4 give the number of respondents in each industry category in the survey years 2002 to 2006 by sex.

A second set of variables, ‘Type of Business or Industry Job #1–5,’ codes the industry of up to five jobs including the CPS job (generally considered to be Job #1) in which the respondent worked since he or she was last interviewed. Industry is not re-collected for the CPS job during the administration of the Employer Supplements. After 1993 all job specific information was removed from the CPS section and is only collected in the Employer Supplements.

Table 4.23.1 Industrial Sector of Civilian Male Respondents’ Most Recent Job
by Survey Year, 1979–2000

Survey Year	Industrial Sector
Survey Year	Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries	Mining	Construction	Manufacturing (Durable)	Manufacturing (Nondurable)	Transportation, Communication, &Public Utilities	Wholesale & Retail Trade	Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate	Business & Repair Services	Personal Services	Entertainment & Recreation Services	Professional & Related Services	Public Administration	All Males
1979	195	19	216	331	229	94	913	45	196	126	64	253	66	2747
1980	174	31	242	392	233	125	1018	63	221	99	75	290	70	3033
1981	164	54	287	423	265	151	1043	90	246	98	68	362	90	3341
1982	308	87	472	589	378	248	1339	109	398	172	126	467	205	4898
1983	306	85	497	515	404	267	1314	124	426	176	132	500	190	4936
1984	228	87	476	778	518	237	1054	130	450	228	120	480	219	5005
1985	191	78	591	647	396	276	1118	141	410	138	74	441	172	4673
1986	189	61	583	645	407	312	1031	176	415	106	73	432	203	4633
1987	189	34	580	616	455	349	898	163	457	164	81	396	202	4584
1988	195	60	601	620	444	376	890	187	424	114	91	425	241	4668
1989	183	37	644	687	425	389	883	201	408	115	76	464	203	4715
1990	176	49	625	674	409	390	869	196	423	100	71	440	234	4656
1991	159	34	555	547	357	361	738	175	349	87	73	402	207	4044
1992	180	49	502	533	365	344	665	168	401	87	60	427	255	4036
1993	164	28	548	517	357	343	652	173	353	89	51	452	248	3975
1994	141	27	501	482	351	359	603	164	357	89	44	446	261	3825
1996	143	33	513	507	340	369	585	155	392	89	53	438	261	3878
1998	134	27	490	532	314	415	539	157	371	74	64	429	260	3806
2000	118	20	484	469	305	408	540	160	363	62	63	416	245	3653

Universe: Respondents who reported working for pay since the last interview and for whom an industry code from the 1970 Census classification system was assigned.
Note: Beginning with the 1982 survey, data are coded with 1980 codes in addition to 1970 codes.
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Table 4.23.2 Industrial Sector of Civilian Female Respondents’ Most Recent Job by Survey Year, 1979–2000

Survey Year	Industrial Sector
Survey Year	Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries	Mining	Construction	Manufacturing (Durable)	Manufacturing (Nondurable)	Transportation, Communication, &Public Utilities	Wholesale & Retail Trade	Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate	Business & Repair Services	Personal Services	Entertainment & Recreation Services	Professional & Related Services	Public Administration	All Females
1979	49	7	19	117	179	44	883	149	53	310	40	496	74	2420
1980	33	5	26	156	209	63	988	195	79	235	38	613	78	2718
1981	29	7	13	165	233	78	981	241	83	221	43	787	115	2996
1982	76	17	43	232	355	123	1444	310	165	297	87	1038	203	4390
1983	80	14	33	201	360	120	1405	347	177	363	78	1075	231	4484
1984	77	16	49	291	423	132	1152	328	227	395	114	1092	237	4533
1985	55	22	40	257	371	141	1173	351	255	381	62	1083	162	4353
1986	45	15	39	256	361	138	1072	380	268	362	56	1147	219	4358
1987	54	5	45	251	385	170	959	386	289	403	60	1127	213	4347
1988	59	11	51	252	388	161	945	391	272	347	65	1155	231	4328
1989	46	10	61	278	367	172	904	369	290	370	51	1211	208	4337
1990	46	13	57	257	384	173	854	370	271	312	47	1284	223	4291
1991	38	11	43	209	269	155	696	308	214	275	53	1125	204	3660
1992	48	8	39	225	294	153	643	296	213	225	50	1179	255	3628
1993	35	9	38	195	286	163	637	288	237	268	36	1158	224	3574
1994	40	9	35	192	272	165	587	282	217	239	38	1127	236	3439
1996	42	9	44	196	262	162	623	262	222	260	47	1228	248	3605
1998	42	9	54	212	238	166	617	260	260	231	54	1291	242	3676
2000	39	8	68	209	195	181	584	253	248	197	61	1265	244	3552

Universe: Respondents who reported working for pay since the last interview and for whom an industry code from the 1970 Census classification system was assigned.
Note: Beginning with the 1982 survey, data are coded with 1980 codes in addition to 1970 codes.
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Table 4.23.3 Industrial Sector of Civilian Male Respondents' Most Recent Job
by Survey Year: NLSY79 Males 2002-2006

		Survey Years
Industrial Sector	2002		2004	2006
All Males	3491		3316	2900
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting	62		55	51
Mining	21		21	17
Utilities	56		52	45
Construction	484		471	461
Manufacturing	651		585	488
Wholesale Trade	145		132	111
Retail Trade	277		279	224
Transportation and Warehousing	261		265	257
Information	102		95	75
Finance and Insurance	110		116	91
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	62		49	58
Professional , Scientific, and Technical Services	157		150	136
Management, Administrative and Support, and Waste	204		220	197
Educational Services	143		148	125
Healthcare and Social Assistance	150		166	137
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	67		50	46
Accommodations and Food Services	134		109	95
Other Services (Except Public Administration	157		147	133
Public Administration and Active Duty Military	248		206	153

User Notes: McClaskie (1988) analyzed the extent of match between the three-digit industry codes assigned during 1979–86 for respondents who had not changed jobs since the previous interview. These codes would theoretically match if no respondent or coding error was present. This analysis found two- and three-digit matches of approximately 80 percent for most years studied.

Survey Instruments: The “Current Labor Force Status - CPS” section of the questionnaire collects the respondent’s verbatim response, from which a code is assigned to the industry of his or her most recent job. The “Jobs” section of the 1979 questionnaire and, for subsequent years, the Employer Supplements gather information on the industries of all other jobs in which a respondent worked more than 10/20 hours per week for at least nine weeks since the date of last interview.

Table 4.23.4 Industrial Sector of Civilian Female Respondents' Most Recent Job
by Survey Year: NLSY79 Females 2002-2006

	Survey Years
Industrial Sector		2002	2004	2006
All Females		3399	3290	2615
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting		21	12	11
Mining		2	3	3
Utilities		14	17	8
Construction		60	55	49
Manufacturing		322	286	211
Wholesale Trade		71	72	62
Retail Trade		316	298	228
Transportation and Warehousing		114	108	89
Information		94	90	63
Finance and Insurance		195	187	140
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing		54	51	47
Professional , Scientific, and Technical Services		157	153	124
Management, Administrative and Support, and Waste		163	151	107
Educational Services		418	426	336
Healthcare and Social Assistance		558	761	638
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation		224	47	33
Accommodations and Food Services		210	203	159
Other Services (Except Public Administration		153	140	141
Public Administration and Active Duty Military		253	230	166

4.23 Industries