What are key resources for Industry Overviews?
Your first step in researching an industry should be finding the Industry Classification code. See below for the three standard classifcations for industries in the United States.
- Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC)Many reference works organize industries by their Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). A specific SIC is a four-digit code used to group similar types of businesses together. Not only are all the Census industry statistics arranged by this scheme, but it is widely used by many non government publications such as market guides and directories.
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.
- Industry and Occupation Classification SystemThe purpose of the classification systems used in these indexes is to organize and to make understandable the many thousands of industries and occupations. These systems group titles describing like industries or like occupations into homogeneous categories and assign a code to each category.
Open Access Resources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics - Industries at a GlanceA ‘snapshot’ of national data obtained from different BLS surveys and programs. Many programs also produce additional industry detail, including state and regional data.
- County Business PatternsCounty Business Patterns is Census Data in an annual series that provides sub national economic data by industry. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets.
- Current Industrial ReportsProvided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Economic CensusProvided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Statistics of U.S. BusinessCensus Data by detailed employment size, by year, by state and by industry.
- globalEDGE
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Reports and data on international market sizes and industries. - MSN MoneyContains company and industry ratios. Search by industry name or keyword.
- Yahoo! FinanceUp to date news and market data on companies and industries.
Subscription-Based Databases
- BloombergBloomberg Markets offers industry and sector news and data. Accessible via Bloomberg News or Bloomberg Terminal subscriptions.
- Capital IQ (S&P Global)S&P Global Market Intelligence library of company, financial, industry, and equity information.
- ForresterTechnology and market research from Forrester Research, Inc. focusing on the business implications of technology change.
- Gale PublicationsGale Research publishes a large amount of industry information in ebook form and as part of Gale Directory Library.
- MarketLine Industry ProfilesAvailable on its own or through EBSCO's Business Source databases. Industry reports containing market overview and detail information about the competitive environment, pricing, market share, segmentation, volume, value, and market forecast.
- MarketResearch.com AcademicProvide access to detailed global industry analyst reports in sectors from consumer goods to manufacturing.
- Mint Global (Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing)Detailed financial statements for public and private companies worldwide. Users can build reports containing detailed standardized financial information or summary information, ownership details, graphics plus data from the other modules. Industry and company profiles from Datamonitor, SEC filings, comprehensive shareholder and subsidiary info, stock data, and more are also included.
- Passport (Euromonitor)Provides international market intelligence, including economic statistics, on industries, countries, and consumers. Formerly Global Market Information Database (GMID).
Trade Associations
Trade associations are important sources of information for industry research, because they collect industry statistics, maintain directories, publish white papers and research reports, organize conferences, and trade shows. Industry experts may be identified through these organizations.
- Business Insights: Essentials (Gale)Use Advanced Search. Select Associations under the "by content type" option.
- Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations (Gale)Covers more than 23,000 organizations in categories such as trade, business, and commercial; legal, governmental, public administration, and military; cultural; educational; veterans, and many more. Available through the Gale Directory Library or separately as ebook or print.
- First Research (Dun & Bradstreet)Trade associations are indicated in the Websites & Acronyms section of the industry reports.
- IBISWorldLists industry associations under the "Assistance" subsection of the "External Environment" portion of industry reports.
