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Conversion to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Other Changes, March 2003


With the release of the January 2003 data on March 20, 2003, the CES State and area Nonfarm Payroll series underwent a number of changes. The basis for industry classification changed from the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC) to the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). In addition, the sample redesign was completed for the remaining private sector industries. Based on these two changes, CES has also guaranteed a minimum number of published State and area employment series.  This has improved data comparability between states and/or metropolitan areas.  Guaranteed published industries not meeting minimum publication criteria are estimated using an econometric technique known as the CES Small domain Model (SDM).


NAICS Conversion

NAICS replaces the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) system. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey began publishing State and area data on a NAICS 2002 basis with the release of January 2003 data on March 20, 2003. SIC-based data is no longer produced or published. Historical time series have been reconstructed as part of the NAICS conversion process. The NAICS-based reconstruction effort covered the All Employees (AE) series only; all other datatypes will have series starting from January 2001.

Available now:

  • Overview of NAICS 2002
  • NAICS Supersectors Used for CES Publication
  • CES Series Code Structure under NAICS
  • State and area AE series published under NAICS
  • Start Dates under NAICS for the State and area Series
  • Tables showing NAICS 2002 relationship to the SIC (from the Bureau of the Census)
  • Sample CES Collection Forms under NAICS
    • Natural Resources and Mining (PDF 323K)
    • Construction (PDF 304K)
    • Manufacturing (PDF 314K)
    • Service Providing (PDF 299K)
    • Public Administration (PDF 222K)
    • Educational Services (PDF 249K)

    Visit the BLS NAICS page for more information about implementing NAICS at BLS.


    Completion of the CES sample redesign March 20, 2003 also marked the completion of the CES sample redesign phase-in. The redesign converted the CES from a quota-based sample to a probability-based sample. In March 2003, the tranportation and public utilities; finance, insurance, and real estate; retail trade; services industries were converted to the new sample design. All other private sector industries have already been converted. Visit the CES Redesign webpage for further details.


    Industry Publication Criteria and the Small Domain Model

    With the simultaneous transition to NAICS and the completion of the CES sample redesign, new estimation and publication structures for Statewide estimates and all the CES metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) needed to be established. A minimum guaranteed publication structure, detailed below, was defined for all States and MSAs. The structure consists of "Expanded Supersectors", which break Manufacturing; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities; and Government into further publication detail. All other published series had to pass a minimum sufficiency test of at least 30 unique unemployment insurance (UI) accounts in its sample, or a minimum universe employment count of 3,000 with at least 50 percent covered by the sample. The series were tested using first quarter 2001 employment data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program (QCEW, or ES-202).

    Guaranteed industries that did not pass the minimum sufficiency test are estimated using a regression model. The CES Small Domain Model (SDM) is a Weighted Least Squares model with three employment inputs: (1) an estimate based on available CES sample for that series, (2)an ARIMA* projection based on trend from 10 years of historical data, and (3) an estimate "borrowed" from the Statewide series for that industry. In addition to the guaranteed industries, Sectors may also be modeled at the Statewide level. (See below.) About 7 percent of State and area CES series are model-based, accounting for less than 2 percent of total nonfarm employment.

    *Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average. BLS uses an updated version of the X-12 ARIMA software developed by the Census Bureau to seasonally adjust establishment data; this is also used to derive the historical component of the SDM. For more information, see our technical notes on seasonal adjustment at http://www.bls.gov/ces/cescsa.htm.


    Guaranteed State and Area Publication Levels

    Expanded NAICS supersectors and higher level aggregates (Statewide and MSAs)

    Total Nonfarm (all in-scope NAICS codes)
      
    Total Private (Total Nonfarm less Government)
         
    Goods-Producing 
             Natural Resources and Mining (NAICS 1133 [logging], NAICS 21)
             Construction (NAICS 23)
             Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)
          Service-Providing 
             Trade, Transportation, and Utilites (NAICS 42,44,45,48,49,22)
                Wholesale Trade (NAICS 42)
                Retail Trade (NAICS 44-45)
                Transportation and Utilites (NAICS 48-49,22)
             Information (NAICS 51)
             Financial Activities (NAICS 52,53)
             Professional and Business Services (NAICS 54,55,56)
             Education and Health Services (NAICS 61,62)
             Leisure and Hospitality (NAICS 71,72)
             Other Services (NAICS 81)
             Government (defined by ownership)
                Federal
                State
                Local

    Note:  Natural Resources and Mining may be combined with Construction if there is insufficient sample and/or universe employment to publish Mining alone.

     

    NAICS Sector Series

    BLS supports models for these series for Statewide estimates if there is insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimation. States are not required to publish at these levels if they are not significant industries within the State.

    Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48,49)
    Utilities (NAICS 22)
    Finance and Insurance (NAICS 52)
    Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (NAICS 53)
    Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (NAICS 54)
    Management of Companies and Enterprises (NAICS 55)
    Administration and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (NAICS 56)
    Education Services (NAICS 61)
    Health Services and Social Assistance (NAICS 62)
    Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (NAICS 71)
    Accommodation and Food Services (NAICS 72)


     

    Last Modified Date: October 30, 2003

 

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