Research Guides: MET315 Engineering Economics (Neuhard): Industry Classification Systems

What are industry classifications?

"Industry classification or industry taxonomy organizes companies into industrial groupings based on similar production processes, similar products, or similar behavior in financial markets. A wide variety of taxonomies is in use, sponsored by different organizations and based on different criteria."

Source: Wikipedia

Industry Classification Systems

North American Industry Classification System
Standard Industrial Classification System

North American Industry Classification System
NAICS is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. NAICS was developed under the auspices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and adopted in 1997 to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. It was developed jointly by the U.S. Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC), Statistics Canada , and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Geografia , to allow for a high level of comparability in business statistics among the North American countries. This site provides the latest information on plans for NAICS revisions, as well as access to various NAICS reference files and tools. The official 2012 U.S. NAICS Manual includes definitions for each industry, background information, tables showing changes between 2007 and 2012, and a comprehensive index.

Note: In the United States the SIC code is being supplanted by the six-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS code), which was released in 1997; however certain government departments and agencies, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), still use the SIC codes.

Source: Wikipedia
SIC Manual
Use this site to browse by division and major group.
SIC Search
This page allows the user to search the 1987 version SIC manual by keyword, to access descriptive information for a specified 2,3,4-digit SIC.

Standard Industrial Classification Manual by Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
Call Number: REF HF1042 .S73 1987
Publication Date: 1987
Every identifiable industry in the U.S. is organized into a major category of related industries and given a specific code number. These codes are called Standard Industrial Classification codes and this manual contains them all. The codes relate to an organizational system used by many professionals such as bankers, accountants, economists, and many more. Replaced by North American Industry Classification System starting in 1997, however this volume is retained for historical purposes.