4.16 Industries

Chapter 4 contents


Open-ended questions (e.g., "What kind of business or industry is/was this?") were included in each interview and used to code the industry of the respondent's current job or current/last job. In addition, the industry of intervening jobs was coded for each personal interview beginning in 1969 and for each dual job reported in a personal interview beginning in 1972. Verbatim responses to this question were coded by Census personnel using three-digit codes from the 1960, 1980, 1990, and 2000 classification systems (Census 1960, 1980, 1990, and 2000). Two- and one-digit edited versions of these raw variables are available for most survey years for 1960 codes. Table 4.16.1 summarizes the years in which each of the various coding systems were used. The User Notes at the end of this section contain an extensive discussion of Census/CHRR editing and creation procedures that affect the industry variables.
Table 4.16.1 Industry Coding Systems Used by Survey Year
Coding System 1967-82 1984, 1986 1987, 1989 1992 1995-03
1960 Codes * * * *  
1980 Codes-current/last job only   *      
1980 Codes-current/last job and dual job only     * *  
1980 Codes-all jobs         *
1990 Codes-current/last job and dual job only       *  
1990 Codes-all jobs         *
2000 Codes-all jobs         *

The first survey included a retrospective collection of respondents' work experience prior to 1966, which asked about the industry of the longest job ever held and the longest job held between or since certain life cycle events (e.g., between stopping school and first marriage, between first marriage and first child, since the birth of first child, or since first marriage). These life cycle events questions were presented to varying universes (e.g., ever married, married without children, never married with children, and never married without children). A five-year retrospective fielded in 1977 included a question on the industry of the longest job held since June 1972. Related variables present for single survey years are (1) the industry of an alternative job that those respondents who reported job-shopping while remaining employed with the same firm indicated that they could have had and/or had been offered (1971) and (2) the industry of the employer from whom the respondent receives or will receive a pension and the type of industry providing a pension for her husband (1989).

Present for each survey year through 1992, edited variables from the Occupation & Industry (O & I) Rewrite provide one-, two-, and three-digit versions of the raw current/last job variables. Several versions of the current/last job variables (e.g., edited and unedited, collapsed and noncollapsed) are also available. See the User Notes section below for additional information.

Tables 4.16.2 and 4.16.3 provide information about the number of respondents working in broad industrial sectors in selected survey years.

Table 4.16.2 Industrial Sector of Respondents' Current/Last Job--Selected Survey Years
Industrial Sector Survey year
1967 1969 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2001
Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries 184 186 169 159 137 115 97 27 18
Mining 7 5 6 3 4 4 2 -- --
Construction 24 29 26 39 35 34 31 11 10
Manufacturing 1086 998 837 698 607 504 413 79 32
Transportation, Communications & Public Utilities 182 161 161 127 103 87 71 21 9
Wholesale & Retail Trade 1047 907 888 743 638 571 524 150 92
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate 233 204 206 181 187 175 150 57 38
Business & Repair Services 95 101 86 116 98 111 128 50 30
Personal Services 726 635 606 529 459 445 406 98 51
Entertainment & Recreation Services 50 40 32 20 18 22 23 13 9
Professional & Related Services 1023 1042 1106 1029 966 901 872 312 200
Public Administration 198 179 183 177 177 174 149 33 30
Total 4855 4487 4306 3821 3429 3143 2866 851 519
Universe: Respondents both working and not working during the survey week for whom an industry code for their current or last job was available.
Note:  Through 1992, this table is based on R00713.00, R01312.00, R02826.00, R04515.00, R06631.00, R08861.00, and R13027.00, and industries were coded using the 1960 Census classification system.  The 1997 and 2001 numbers are based on the 1990 industry code for each job (e.g.,  R36398.00 for job #01 in 1997 and R56356.00 for job #01 in 2001).

Table 4.16.2 Industrial Sector of Respondents' CPS Job 2000 Census Code by Survey Year: 1995-2003
Survey Year 1995 1997 1999 20011 2003
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting 26 27 22 17 10
Mining 1 -- -- -- --
Utilities 8 4 2 1 2
Construction 10 11 10 6 5
Manufacturing 101 72 47 32 21
Wholesale Trade 15 8 9 6 4
Retail Trade 146 114 93 73 67
Transportation and Warehousing 10 6 5 6 5
Information 25 22 15 7 6
Finance and Insurance 42 34 23 14 9
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 32 23 25 26 21
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 51 38 36 27 26
Management, Administrative and Support, and Waste Management Services 32 31 26 22 14
Educational Services 161 110 70 58 52
Health Care and Social Assistance 216 160 131 98 96
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 20 12 14 12 10
Accommodations and Food Services 62 45 35 23 23
Other Services (Except Public Administration) 123 103 70 64 55
Public Administration and Active Duty Military 59 32 33 27 17
TOTAL 1140 852 666 519 442
 
Universe:  Respondents for whom an industry code is available for their CPS job. 
This table is based on R18089.00-R18095.00, R18989.01-R18989.07, R36357.00-R36367.00, R36397.01,
R36604.02, R36798.03, R36998.04, R37191.05, R37376.06, R37541.07, R37703.08, R37863.09, R44301.00,
R44308.00, R44315.00, R44322.00, R44329.00, R44336.00, R44343.00, R44350.00, R44421.01, R44641.02,
R44841.03, R45041.04, R45233.05, R45422.06, R45600.07, R45772.08, R56048.00-R56056.00, R63300.00-
R63308.00, R66772.00-R66780.00, and R67124.00-R67132.00.
The 2000 Industry and Occupation codes can also be found at www.census.gov. Under the subjects A-Z choose
"I" then select "Industry Classification for Census 2000."
1 Counts for 2001 are underestimated by about 5% due to an instrument problem.  One or more jobs were
incorrectly deleted from the employer roster in 2001 for 55 respondents, and information for some of these jobs is
missing.  Information for these jobs was collected in 2003, and 52 of the 55 respondents affected were interviewed
in 2003.  For a list of the 55 respondents for whom some employer information may be missing see Appendix 42 in
the Codebook Supplement (PDF).

Survey Instruments & Documentation: Questions about industry affiliation can be found in the regularly fielded "Current Labor Force Status," "Work Experience," "Work Experience & Attitudes," "Retrospective Work History," "Employment," and "Respondent's Employer Supplement" sections of the questionnaire. Industry questions can also be found in the special 1967 "Work Experience Before 1966," 1989 "Pension & Retirement," and 1992-2003 "Husband's Current Labor Force Status"/"Husband's Retrospective Work History" sections of the questionnaires. Part One and Appendix H of "Attachment 2: 1960, 1980 & 1990 Census of Population Industrial & Occupational Codes" in the Codebook Supplement (PDF) provide listings by industry of the relevant one-, two-, and three-digit codes.

User Notes: Researchers should be aware of a number of issues related to the industry variables. These issues are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Variable titles for industries listed within the various NLS documentation items do not always specify which Census coding system was utilized. If no year is listed, users should assume that the 1960 classification system was used for coding.  Later releases added the year to the title indicating which Census system was used.

Substantive differences exist between a number of similarly titled occupation, industry, and class of worker variables present in the Original Cohort data files. One set of raw variables relating to the respondent's current job is derived from responses to questions found within the "CPS" section of each questionnaire. Additional versions of this set of variables are created using the two different procedures described below.

(1) An Occupation & Industry (O & I) Rewrite creates a set of seven summary variables that enable researchers to identify the last occupation, industry, or class of worker status of all respondents who were interviewed in a given year, whether or not they were currently working. Values utilized are either those from the job in which the respondent was employed the week before the interview or values from the job that was current at the last time the respondent reported employment. Although the industry associated with an intervening job might technically be a respondent's most recent industry affiliation, the O & I program is not designed to pick up information from such jobs. All O & I Rewrite variables are classified utilizing the 1960 Census codes. Titles for this set of O & I Rewrite variables appear in Table 4.16.3.

Table 4.16.3 Occupation & Industry Variables from the O & I Rewrite
Variable Title Version Question #
Class of Worker at Current or Last Job Collapsed CV (Created Variables)
Occupation of Current or Last Job 3-digit
Occupation of Current or Last Job Duncan Index
Occupation of Current or Last Job 1-digit
Industry of Current or Last Job 3-digit
Industry of Current or Last Job 2-digit
Industry of Current or Last Job 1-digit

The user can differentiate O & I Rewrite variables from non-backfilled variables by the presence of the word "collapsed" at the end of the O & I variable title. This series ended in 1992 because the 1960 codes no longer matched the U.S.'s industrial structure.

(2) When Census originally created the 'Employment Status Recode' (ESR) variables, no cleaning or editing of the items from the "CPS" section of the questionnaire was done. In the mid-1980s, recurring problems with the program that created the ESR variables forced Census to create edited "CPS" items. Census sent both unedited and edited versions of these items to CHRR for public release. Edited variables are identified with either the word "EDITED" or the abbreviations "EDT" or "E" appended to the variable title. Edited versions of these variables will have fewer cases than the unedited versions. When looking at patterns over time, users may wish to use the set of unedited versions. Following the inception of the computer-assisted surveys in 1995, this situation no longer holds true and researchers will only find one version of the CPS variables.

References

Census Bureau. 1960 Census of Population Alphabetical Index of Occupations and Industries (Revised Edition). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960.

Census Bureau. 1980 Census of Population Classified Index of Industries and Occupations. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980.

Census Bureau. Census of Population and Housing, 1990, Alphabetical Index of Industries and Occupations. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990.