They are wrong. If current plans are implemented, by 2003 consistent data on aggregate measures such as nonfarm payroll employment in manufacturing will be reported retroactive to 1995 at the earliest. Familiar categories, such as construction and manufacturing, will still be found on statistical releases, but the establishments they represent will have changed. And business economists have supported the program in theory each step of the way. It is based on a single conceptual framework- producing units that use similar production processes are grouped together.
Provision is made for new and emerging industries.
It not only recognizes many new industries that were not recognized explicitly in the old SIC, but it also provides a framework in which new industries can be more easily introduced in the future. The system was developed jointly with Canada and Mexico, so there will be comparability among the data of the three countries up to the five-digit level. Many NABE members participated in this meeting. Several of them criticized the SIC system's haphazard structure and limited coverage of services and high-tech industries. This committee was chaired by Jack Triplett, Bureau of Economic Analysis, with members from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Commerce.