Introducing the North American Industry Classification System

Since the 1930s, Economic Census data have been published based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, developed and maintained by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The decision by OMB to replace the SIC with the new North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has had a profound effect on planning, data collection, data processing, and publication activities of the Economic Census. It was necessary to design new and different forms, expand the kinds of questions included on the forms, canvass a larger number of companies to request classification information, and develop a process for recoding over five million business establishments to a NAICS basis.