Measuring industry employment, 1990–2018: a look at the auxiliary-unit concept

Abstract

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997. Since the change, some analysts have expressed concerns about the elimination in NAICS of the concept of auxiliary units, which are now classified with other worksites that perform similar functions. This article examines how employment trends by broad industry groups would have differed over the past few decades if the auxiliary-unit concept had been used to estimate employment in those units as it was in the SIC system.