Description of Industries and Summary of Findings

INDUSTRY 2721, PERIODICALS

This industry is made up of establishments primarily engaged in publishing
periodicals, or in publishing and printing periodicals.  These
establishments carry on the various operations necessary for issuing
periodicals, but may or may not perform their own printing.  Establishments
not engaged in publishing periodicals, but which print periodicals for
publishers, are classified in industry group 275. Data on the periodical
publishing activities of nonprofit organizations (religious, educational,
social, charitable, etc.) have been included to the extent that the
employees of such organizations are covered under the Social Security
system. For the distinction between newspapers and periodicals for the
census of manufactures, see the foregoing statements under industry 2711.

The 1992 definition of this industry is the same as that used in the 1987
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The SIC number and title
also are the same.

In the 1992 Census of Manufactures, Industry 2721, Periodicals, had
employment of 116.2 thousand. The employment figure was 6 percent above the
110.0 thousand reported in 1987. Compared with 1991, employment increased 5
percent. The 1991 data are based on the Census Bureau's annual survey of
manufactures (ASM), which is a sample survey conducted each year between
censuses.

The leading States in employment in 1992 were New York, Illinois,
California, and Pennsylvania, accounting for approximately 53 percent of
the industry's employment. These same States were the leaders in 1987 when
they accounted for 56 percent of the industry's employment.

The total receipts for establishments classified in this industry were
$22.0 billion.

Establishments in virtually all industries ship secondary products as well
as products primary to the industry in which they are classified and have
some miscellaneous receipts, such as resales and contract receipts.
Industry 2721 shipped $19.8 billion of products considered primary to the
industry, $1.1 billion of secondary products, and had $1.1 billion of
miscellaneous receipts, resales, and contract work.  Thus, the ratio of
primary products to the total of both secondary and primary products
shipped by establishments in this industry was 95 percent (specialization
ratio). In 1987, the specialization ratio also was 95 percent.

Establishments in this industry also accounted for 95 percent of products
considered primary to the industry no matter where they were actually
produced (coverage ratio). In 1987, the coverage ratio was 96 percent.

The products primary to industry 2721, no matter in what industry they were
produced, appear in file MC92F6A and aggregate to $20.9 billion. For
further explanation of specialization and coverage ratios, see file MC92F5B
and the appendixes.

The total cost of materials, services, and fuels and energy used by
establishments classified in the periodical publishing industry amounted to
$6.2 billion. Data on specific materials consumed appear in file MC92F7.

Single-establishment companies in this industry with less than 5 employees
were excluded from the mail portion of the census. The data for these
establishments (and a small number of larger establishments whose reports
were not received at the time the data were tabulated) were obtained from
administrative records of other agencies or developed from industry
averages. These establishments accounted for 21 percent of the total value
of shipments.