CHAPTER XIV Census of Wholesale Trade Commodity Line Sales Abstract......................................................XIV-3 Introduction..................................................XIV-7 File Specifications...........................................XIV-9 File Layouts.............................................XIV-11 Database STructures......................................XIV-15 User Notes....................................................XIV-19 CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE COMMODITY LINE SALES Abstract CONTENTS Citation XIV-3 Type of File XIV-3 Universe Description XIV-3 Subject-Matter Description XIV-3 Geographic Coverage XIV-3 Technical Description XIV-4 Reference Materials XIV-4 Related Printed Reports XIV-4 Related Machine-Readable Data Files XIV-4 Availability XIV-5 CITATION: Census of Wholesale Trade on CD-ROM, 1987: Commodity Line Sales [machine-readable data file] / prepared by the Bureau of the Census. -Washington: The Bureau [producer and distributor], 1990. TYPE OF FILE: Summary statistics UNIVERSE DESCRIPTION: In the statistics for the U.S. and selected states, the universe is all wholesale trade establishments with payroll. In the statistics for selected metropolitan areas, the universe is limited to merchant wholesaler establishments with payroll. SUBJECT-MATTER DESCRIPTION: These files present data on the major categories of commodities sold by wholesale establishments. For each combination of type of operation, kind of business, and line of commodities, the files show the number of establishments handling the line and their sales of the line; the percentage of total sales of the kind of business accounted for by each of the lines carried; and, for establishments actually handling a specific line, the percentage of their sales represented by sales of that line. Summary statistics are also provided for the 140 broad commodity line categories, including counts of establishments and the amount and percent of the line sold by various kinds of wholesale trade businesses. GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE: Data are provided for the U.S. and the 15 states and 15 metropolitan areas with the largest amounts of wholesaling in 1987. These include the following: States: California Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Texas Metropolitan areas: Atlanta, GA MSA Boston-Lawrence-Salem, MA-NH CMSA Chicago-Gary-Lake County, IL-IN-WI CMSA Cleveland-Akron-Lorain, OH CMSA Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CMSA Detroit-Ann Arbor, MI CMSA Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX CMSA Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside, CA CMSA Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL CMSA Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI MSA New York-Northern New Jersey- Long Island, NY-NJ-CT CMSA Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton, PA-NJ-DE-MD CMSA St. Louis, MO-IL MSA San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA Seattle-Tacoma, WA CMSA TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: File Structure: dBASE III+ Data are structured in two files, WC87L1 and WC87L2, corresponding to the two main types of tables in the printed report. WC87L1 corresponds to tables 1, 3, 5, and 7; WC87L2 corresponds to tables 2, 4, 6, and 8. Coverage codes from printed table 9 have been merged into both files. WC87L1 provides data for selected detailed commodity lines within certain kinds of business in addition to the broad lines shown in both files. Both files have multiple dBASE ".NDX" index files and multiple label files that can be linked to them (e.g., with commodity line titles). WC87L1 1. File sequence: State by MSA by type of operation by kind of business by commodity line. U.S. records appear first, followed by state records in alphabetic sequence, followed by metropolitan area records in alphabetic sequence. 2. Available indexes: a. WC87L1XS: First record for each kind-of- business within type of operation within state b. WC87L1MM: First record for each kind-of- business within type of operation within MSA c. WC87L1CL: By Commodity line code by kind-of- business code by state by MSA 3. Linkable label files: a. HS87KB (kind-of-business titles) b. WHS87CL (commodity line titles) c. STCODE (state names) d. MSA (MSA and CMSA names) e. RECTYPE (record type labels) WC87L2 1. File sequence: State by MSA by type of operation by broad commodity line by kind of business. U.S. records appear first, followed by state records in alphabetic sequence, followed by metropolitan area records in alphabetic sequence. 2. Available indexes: a. WC87L2XS: First record for each broad commodity line within type of operation within state b. WC87L2MM: First record for each broad commodity line within type of operation within MSA 3. Linkable label files: a. WHS87KB (kind-of-business titles) b. WHS87CL (commodity line titles) c. STCODE(state names) MSA(MSA and CMSA names) d. RECTYPE (record type labels) REFERENCE MATERIALS: 1987 Economic Censuses CD-ROM 1D, Technical Documentation. This documentation has general information, glossaries, record layouts for all files, and other reference material. One copy accompanies each CD-ROM order. Additional copies are available for $10 from Customer Services, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233. Guide to the 1987 Economic Censuses and Related Statistics. Describes the scope, coverage, classification systems, data items, and data products for each of the economic censuses and related surveys. Data comparability and uses are also discussed. Single copies are free from Customer Services, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233. Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987. Prepared by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, and available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Price is $24. RELATED PRINTED REPORTS: 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade, Subject Series, Commodity Line Sales. Presents data corresponding directly to those included in these files for the U.S. (The data for selected states and metropolitan areas included in these files are not available in print.) RELATED MACHINE-READABLE DATA FILES: Census of Wholesale Trade on CD-ROM, 1987: Geographic Area Series. Presents data for establishments with payroll by kind of business for all states and metropolitan areas (not just the 15 largest included in commodity line files) and also for counties and places. The area series files also include payroll and employment figures not shown in commodity line sales files. (Available on Economic Censuses CD-ROM's 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E.) Census of Retail Trade on CD-ROM, 1987: Merchandise Line Sales. Presents data on major categories of merchandise sold by establishments primarily engaged in retail trade. While the style of data presentation parallels that of the wholesale commodity line files, retail merchandise is classified according to a set of categories different from and somewhat less detailed than wholesale commodity lines. (Available on Economic Censuses CD-ROM's 1C, 1D, and 1E.) [Each of the above data sets is also available on computer tape.] AVAILABILITY: These files are included on Economic Census CD-ROM 1D (price $150), and will also be included on CD-ROM 1E. CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE COMMODITY LINE SALES Introduction CONTENTS Census of Wholesale Trade XIV-7 Commodity Line Sales XIV-7 Census Disclosure Rules XIV-8 Geographic Areas Covered XIV-8 Dollar Values XIV-8 Reliability of Data XIV-8 Special Tabulations XIV-8 CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE The 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade, part of the 1987 Economic Censuses, covered wholesale trade as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual. It included all establishments with one or more paid employees primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, farm, or professional users; or to other wholesalers. Companies selling products to which they have title, as well as to those acting as agents or brokers in buying merchandise for or selling merchandise to others, are included. The census excluded governmental organizations classified in the covered industries except for wholesale liquor establishments operated by State and local governments. The basic tabulations do not include data for establishments which are "auxiliary" (primary function is providing a service, such as warehouses) to wholesale establishments with the same organization. Data for auxiliaries are pre- sented in a subsequent report issued as part of the 1987 Enterprise Statistics reports. Wholesale firms without employees are excluded from the census. In the census of retail trade, the sales of firms with no paid employees are derived from administrative records of other Federal agencies rather than from a direct canvass. These sources proved impractical for wholesale firms without paid employees. In the census of wholesale trade, the sales value is the gross volume of business conducted. Firms which operate wholly or partly on a commission basis must provide both the gross volume of business conducted and commission receipts on census forms. Agents and brokers do not report to other Federal agencies the gross selling value of goods. Moreover, administrative records make no distinction between commission receipts and sales by wholesalers. COMMODITY LINE SALES The information represents a recompilation of establishments and sales data collected in the 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade according to various categories of commodity lines sold by wholesale establishments. An individual establishment (i.e., business location) is the unit to which a single kind-of-business classification is assigned and for which data are summarized in most wholesale census tabulations. Prior to their recompilation by commodity line category, kind-of-business statistics do not reveal the commodity line composition of wholesale sales. So, they do not meet many important data needs of manufacturers, retailers, the Government, business analysts, or wholesalers themselves. To meet some of these needs, sales by commodity line that were collected in the census are presented in this report by broad commodity line groupings. While information is desired for individual products or more detailed commodity line categories than are shown in this report, reporting in greater detail was not feasible. In planning the commodity line inquiries for the 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade, the Bureau of the Census consulted extensively with trade associations and business firms, both for advice on the information to be provided by the census, and on the reportability of the data on which such information would be based. The amount of detail requested in the census reflected both of these considerations, with reportability, for the most part, being the limiting factor. Broad commodity lines were devised to account for all the sales and receipts of wholesale establishments regardless of kind-of-business classification. These lines are identified in the various tables by commodity line codes ending in "0." In addition to the major lines, additional detail within certain of these major lines was requested on many of the report forms. CENSUS DISCLOSURE RULES In accordance with Federal law governing census reports, no data are published that would disclose the operations of an individual establishment or business. However, the number of establishments in a kind-of-business classification is not considered a disclosure, so this information may be released even though other information is withheld. GEOGRAPHIC AREAS COVERED This report presents data by kind of business for the United States as a whole. DOLLAR VALUES All dollar values presented in this report are expressed in current dollars, i.e., 1987 data are expressed in 1987 dollars and 1982 data in 1982 dollars. Consequently, when making comparisons to prior years, users of the data should consider the inflation that has occurred. RELIABILITY OF DATA All data compiled in this report originated from either census questionnaires or administrative records of other Federal agencies and, therefore, are not subject to sampling errors. However, the data are subject to nonsampling errors. Nonsampling errors can be attributed to many sources: inability to identify all cases in the actual universe; definition and classification difficulties; differences in the interpretation of questions; errors in recording or coding the data obtained; and other errors of collection, response, coverage, and estimation for missing or misreported data. The accuracy of these tabulated data is determined by the joint effects of the various nonsampling errors. No direct measurement of these effects has been obtained except for estimation for missing or misreported data; however, precautionary steps were taken in all phases of the collection, processing, and tabulation of the data in an effort to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors. The Bureau of the Census obtains on computer tape limited information extracted from administrative records of other Federal agencies. This information is used in conjunction with other information available to the Census Bureau to develop estimates for nonemployers, small employers, and other establishments for which responses were not received in time for publication. SPECIAL TABULATIONS Special tabulations of data collected in the 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade may be obtained, depending on availability of time and personnel, on diskette, computer tape, or in tabular form. The data will be in summary form and subject to the same rules prohibiting disclosure of confidential in- formation (including name, address, kind of business, or other data for individual business establishments or companies) as are the regular publications. Special tabulations are prepared on a cost basis. A request for a cost estimate, as well as exact specifications on the type and format of the data to be provided, should be directed to the Chief, Business Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 20233. To discuss a special tabulation before submitting specifications, call 301-763-5282. CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE COMMODITY LINE SALES File Specifications CONTENTS General Data Specifications XIV-9 File Layout XIV-9 GENERAL DATA SPECIFICATIONS Data Fields. All files are recorded in dBase III+ format. Numeric data fields contain no alphabetic information. A few fields (those in percentage form) have explicit decimals, unlike corresponding data on tape, which carry only implied decimals. On the other hand, sales figures are scaled in thousands of dollars, and this is noted only in the file layouts. Any data field which is subject to any special conditions (e.g., suppression to avoid disclosure, not applicable) is preceded by an information flag field which contains explanatory codes. Record Sequence and Geographic Coding. Records are arranged with like records together, e.g., all U.S.-level records, followed by all state records, followed by all metro areas. Metropolitan area records do not contain state codes, since some metro areas cross state lines. Names for states and metro areas are carried in files separate from the data files. Each is indexed, so that geographic names can be accessed in conjunction with corresponding data values. See the Introduction to this CD- ROM for more information on geographic variables. Kind-of-Business and Commodity Line Labels. Records in the files are specific to a particular kind of business, as identified by the WHS87KB code, and commodity line, as identified by the WHS87CL code. Titles for each kind of business are available in Appendix E, and also in the file WHS87KB.dbf on the CD-ROM. Titles for each commodity line are available in the file WHS87CL.dbf. Kind-of-business ti- tles or commodity line titles can be linked to data files using the dBase SET RELATION command, although only one relation can be defined at one time. Index Files. Each data file has multiple index files that may be used to jump quickly to desired records (e.g., using the dBase FIND command) or to change the sequence of access. Available index files are listed in the abstract. Where noted in the abstract that an index is to the "first record for" a particular type of record, the index can be used during dBase FIND's, but the index must be shut off with SET INDEX TO in order to get access to records other than the first for each geographic area or SIC. FILE LAYOUT Most data items have an associated "flag" to describe any special conditions applicable. Flag 0 indicates normal data. Flag 6 indicates data greater than zero, but rounding to zero in the units displayed. These codes are the same for all flags, but are listed in the record layout only for the first flag. Data fields associated with flags greater than zero contain zeroes. In the geographic identification field in each file, NA fields contain either all zeroes or all 9's. See Geographic Code Structure. Census of Wholesale Trade, 1987 Commodity Line Sales FILE 1 LAYOUT ------------------------------------------------------------ Location Record Type MSA/ Num of CMSA/ Mnemonic Char US State PMSA File Description ------------------------------------------------------------ ST 2 NA Data NA IPS State Code MSA 4 NA NA Data MSA/CMSA Code PMSA 4 NA NA Data/NA MSA Code RECTYPE 2 01 02 04 Record Type Code WHS87KB 3 Data Data Data Kind-of-Business Code (Table Stub Line Number) e.g. 001=Total Wholesale Trade WHL87CL 4 Data Data Data Commodity Line Code e.g. 0000=Total Record OPTYPE 2 Data Data Data Type of Operation 00 All Types of Operation 10 Merchant Wholesalers 20 Manufacturers' Sales Branches and Offices 40 Agents, Brokers, and Commission Merchants COVERAGE 1 Data Data Data Coverage Code 9 90 per cent or more reporting 8 80 to 89% reporting 7 70 to 79% reporting 6 60 to 69% reporting 5 Less than 60% reporting 0 Coverage code not available ESTABF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag 0 No suppression 1 Data are withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies (D) 2 Data not available (NA) 3 Data not comparable (NC) 5 Data not applicable (X) 6 Less than .05 percent (V) ESTAB 7 Data Data Data Number of establishments, 1987 SALESF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALES 10 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: Amount, 1987 (in thousands) SALSPMLF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALSPML 5 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: As a percent of total sales of handling line, 1987 (one decimal) SALPALLF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALPALL 5 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: As a percent of total sales of all establishments in this kind of business, 1987 (one decimal) Record size is 54. This file corresponds to Tables 1, 3, 5, and 7. Sort sequence is ST by MSA by OPTYPE by WHS87KB by WHS87CL 10/19/90 Census of Wholesale Trade, 1987 Commodity Line Sales FILE 1 LAYOUT ------------------------------------------------------------ Location Record Type MSA/ Num of CMSA/ Mnemonic Char US State PMSA File Description ------------------------------------------------------------ ST 2 NA Data NA FIPS State Code MSA 4 NA NA Data MSA/CMSA Code PMSA 4 NA NA Data/NA PMSA Code RECTYPE 2 01 02 04 Record Type Code WHS87KB 3 Data Data Data Kind-of-Business Code (Table Stub Line Number) e.g. 001=Total Wholesale Trade WHL87CL 4 Data Data Data Commodity Line Code e.g. 0000=Total Record OPTYPE 2 Data Data Data Type of Operation 00 All Types of Operation 10 Merchant Wholesalers 20 Manufacturers' Sales Branches and Offices 40 Agents, Brokers, and Commission Merchants COVERAGE 1 Data Data Data Coverage Code 9 90 percent or more reporting 8 80 to 89% reporting 7 70 to 79% reporting 6 60 to 69% reporting 5 Less than 60% reporting 0 Coverage code not available ESTABF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag 0 No suppression 1 Data are withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies (D) 2 Data not available (NA) 3 Data not comparable (NC) 5 Data not applicable (X) 6 Less than .05 percent (V) ESTAB 7 Data Data Data Number of establishments, 1987 SALESF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALES 10 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: Amount, 1987 (in thousands) SALSPMLF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALSPML 5 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: As a percent of total sales of establishments handling line, 1987 (one decimal) SALPALLF 1 Data Data Data Data Flag SALPALL 5 Data Data Data Sales of Specified Commodity Lines: As a percent of total sales of all establishments in this kind of business, 1987 (one decimal) Record size is 54. This file corresponds to Tables 1, 3, 5, and 7. Sort sequence is ST by MSA by OPTYPE by WHS87KB by WHS87CL 10/19/90 Census of Wholesale Trade, 1987 Commodity Line Sales on CD-ROM DATABASE STRUCTURE File WC87L1: Kind of Business by Commodity Lines Field Field Field Name Type Size Decimal Field Description ST C 2 0 FIPS State Code MSA C 4 0 MSA or CMSA Code(9999=not in MSA, 0000 in New England) PMSA C 4 0 PMSA Code (9999=not in PMSA) RECTYPE C 2 0 Record Type 01=U.S., 02=State,04=MSA) WHS87KB C 3 0 Wholesale Kind-of- Business Code (001=Total wholesale trade) WHS87CL C 4 0 Wholesale Commodity Line Code (0000=All commodity lines) OPTYPE C 2 0 Type of Operation (00=All, 10=Merchant, 20=Mfr Sales, 40=Agent) COVERAGE C 1 0 Coverage Code (9=90+% reporting, 8=80- 89%,.5=<60%,0=NA) ESTABF N 1 0 Flag for ESTAB ESTAB N 7 0 Number of establishments, 1987 SALESF N 1 0 Flag for SALES SALES N 10 0 Sales ($1,000), 1987 SALSPMLF N 1 0 Flag for SALSPML SALSPML N 5 1 Sales of line as % of total sales of estabs handling line SALPALLF N 1 0 Flag for SALPALL SALPALL N 5 1 Sales of commodity line as % of total sales of all estabs Total 54 Census of Wholesale Trade, 1987 Commodity Line Sales on CD-ROM DATABASE STRUCTURE File WC87L2: Broad Commodity Lines by Kind of Business Field Field Field Name Type Size Decimal Field Description ST C 2 0 FIPS State Code MSA C 4 0 MSA or CMSA Code (9999=not in MSA, 0000 in New England) PMSA C 4 0 PMSA Code (9999=not in PMSA) RECTYPE C 2 0 Record Type (01=U.S., 02=State,04=MSA) WHS87KB C 3 0 Wholesale Kind-of-Business Code (001=Total wholesale trade) WHS87CL C 4 0 Wholesale Commodity Line (0000=All commodities, total) OPTYPE C 2 0 Type of Operation (00=All, 10=Merchant, 20=Mfr Sales, 40=Agent) COVERAGE C 1 0 Coverage Code (9=90+% reporting, 8=80- 89%,..5=<60%,0=NA) ESTABF N 1 0 Flag for ESTAB ESTAB N 7 0 Number of establishments, 1987 SALESF N 1 0 Flag for SALES SALES N 10 0 Sales ($1,000), 1987 SALSPERF N 1 0 Flag for SALSPER SALSPER N 5 1 Percent of sales accounted for by specified kind of business Total 48 CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE-COMMODITY LINE SALES User Notes This section will contain information relevant to the 1987 Census of Wholesale Trade on CD-ROM, 1987: Commodity Line Sales that indicates specific problems with the data, or that becomes available after the file is released. The cover letter to the updated information should be filed behind this page. User Notes will be sent to all users who (1) purchased their file (or technical documentation) from the Census Bureau and (2) returned the coupon following the CD-ROM File Information.