Industries

Open-ended questions (e.g., “What kind of business or industry is/was this?”) have been included in each interview. Verbatim responses to this question are coded by Census personnel using three-digit codes from the 1960, 1980, and 1990 classification systems (Census 1960, 1980, and 1990). Two- and one-digit edited versions of these raw variables are available for most survey years for 1960 codes. Table 4.19.1 summarizes the years in which each of the various coding systems have been used. The User Notes at the end of this section contain an extensive discussion of the Census/CHRR editing and creation procedures that affect the industry variables.

Information with which to code the industry of the respondent’s current job or current/last job was collected during each survey. 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. Table 4.19.2 provides information about the coding systems used in the various surveys. The first survey included a retrospective collection of respondents’ work experience prior to the first interview, which asked about the industry of the job held one year ago and that held during the last year of high school. In 1973, 1978, and 1983, five-year retrospectives contained a question on the industry of the job held in February 1968, and that of the longest job held since January 1973 and since January 1978. Other related variables for single survey years include (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 (1973) and (2) two created variables that indicate the industry of the last job held before and after the birth of the respondent’s first child (1973).

Present for each survey year through 1993, edited variables from the Occupation & Industry (O & I) Rewrite provide one-, two-, and three-digit versions of the raw current/last job variables. Beginning in 1986, 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.

Table 4.19.2 Industrial Sector of Respondents’ Current/Last Job by Survey Year: 1968-2001

Industrial Sector	Total	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
68	3665	178	2	16	589	143	854	177	71	746	52	786	151	--
69	4059	155	2	20	669	142	960	210	79	717	42	893	170	--
70	4195	119	1	21	724	169	992	250	93	608	42	995	181	--
71	4344	111	8	14	754	175	970	271	110	568	51	1096	216	--
72	4351	96	6	23	785	184	963	277	121	499	57	1143	197	--
73	4247	80	7	32	834	171	886	293	100	457	34	1146	207	--
75	4104	64	8	32	846	155	794	285	98	348	34	1216	224	--
77	4007	66	13	34	762	146	732	279	107	338	39	1281	210	--
78	3807	72	9	40	710	147	687	284	99	326	23	1212	198	--
80	3728	61	8	34	676	147	655	267	113	301	37	1219	210	--
82	3583	61	9	40	609	145	620	277	126	283	42	1168	203	--
83	3477	65	9	48	566	145	582	270	125	293	39	1148	187	--
85	3585	63	8	48	569	143	576	258	138	296	36	1228	222	--
87	3530	57	7	54	538	149	548	282	159	260	29	1215	232	--
88	3423	57	7	60	506	132	531	268	161	241	31	1220	209	--
91	3323	65	7	50	461	130	507	249	150	214	28	1231	231	--
93	3123	61	5	55	409	116	458	248	143

4.19 Industries