This section presents statistics relating to services other than those covered in the previous few sections (22 to 26) on domestic trade, transportation, communications, financial services, and recreation services. Data shown for the services are classified by kind of business and cover sales or receipts, establishments, employees, payrolls, and other items. The principal sources of these data are from the Census Bureau and include the 1997 Economic Census reports, annual surveys, and the County Business Patterns program.These data are supplemented bydata from several sources such as the National Restaurant Association on food and drink sales (Table 1271), the American Hotel & Motel Association on lodging (Table 1269), and McCann-Erickson, Inc. and Publishers Information Bureau on advertising (Tables 1274 and 1275, respectively).

Data on these services also appear in several other sections. For instance, labor force employment and earnings data appear in Section 12, Labor Force; gross domestic product of the industry (Table 660) appear in Section 13, Income, Expenditures, and Wealth; and financial data (several tables) from the quarterly Statisticsof Income Bulletin, published by the Internal Revenue Service, appear in Section 15, Business Enterprise.

Censuses-Limited coverage of the services industries started in 1933. Beginning with the 1967 census, legislation provides for a census of each area to be conducted every 5 years (for years ending in ‘‘2’’ and ‘‘7’’). For more information on the most current census, see the History of the 1997 Economic Census found at<http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/pol00-hec.pdf>. The industries covered in the censuses and surveys of business are those classified in 13 sectors defined in the North American Industry Classification System, called NAICS (see below). All Census Bureau tables in this section are utilizing the new NAICS codes, which replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS makes substantial structural improvements and identifies over 350 new industries. At the same time, it causes breaks in time series far more profound than any prior revision of the previously used SIC system. For information on this system and how it affects the comparability of statistics historically, see text, Section 15, Business Enterprise, and especially the Census Web site at <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html>.

The Accommodation and Food Services sector (NAICS sector 72) comprises establishments providing customers with lodging and/or prepared meals, snacks, and beverages for immediate consumption. The Other Services (Except Public Administration) sector (NAICS sector 81) covers establishments with payroll engaged in providing services not specifically provided for elsewhere in the NAICS. Establishments in this sector are primarily engaged in activities such as repair and maintenance of equipment and machinery, personal and laundry services, and religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations. Establishments providing death care services, pet care services, photofinishing services, temporary parking services, and dating services are also included. Private households that employ workers on or about the premises in activities primarily concerned with the operation of the household are included in this sector but are not included in the scope of the census. In general, the 1997 Economic Census has two series of publications and documents for these two sectors: 1) subject series with reports on such as commodity line sales and establishment and firm sizes and 2) geographic reports with individual reports for each state. For information on these series, see the Census Web site at <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC72.htm> and <http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC81.htm>.

Current surveys-The Service Annual Survey provides annual estimates of nationwide receipts for selected personal, business, leasing and repair, amusement and entertainment, social and health, and other professional service industries in the United States. For selected accommodation, social, health, and other professional service industries, separate estimates are developed for receipts of taxable firms and revenue and expenses for firms and organizations exempt from federal income taxes. Several service sectors from this survey are covered in other sections of this publication. The estimates for tax exempt firms in these industries are derived from a sample of employer firms only. Estimates obtained from annual and monthly surveys are based on sample data and are not expected to agree exactly with results that would be obtained from a complete census of all establishments. Data include estimates for sampling units not reporting.

Statistical reliability-For a discussion of statistical collection and estimation, sampling procedures, and measures of statistical reliability applicable to Census Bureau data, see Appendix III.