Description of Industries and Summary of Findings

INDUSTRY 2771, GREETING CARDS

This industry is made up of establishments primarily engaged in the
designing, publishing, and/or printing, by any process, of greeting cards
for all occasions.

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 2771, Greeting Cards, had
employment of 22.8 thousand. The employment figure was 6 percent above the
21.5 thousand reported in 1987.

The leading States in employment in 1992 were Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas,
and Kansas, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the industry's
employment. This represents a shift from 1987 when Missouri, Kentucky,
Kansas, and Ohio accounted for approximately 55 percent of the industry's
employment.

The total value of shipments for establishments classified in this industry
was $4.2 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 2771 shipped $3.0 billion of products considered primary to the
industry, $522.3 million of secondary products, and had $695.5 million 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 85 percent (specialization
ratio). In 1987, the specialization ratio was 82 percent.

Establishments in this industry also accounted for 97 percent of products
considered primary to the industry no matter where they were actually
produced (coverage ratio). In 1987, the coverage ratio was 95 percent.

The products primary to industry 2771, no matter in what industry they were
produced, appear in file MC92F6A and aggregate to $3.1 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 greeting cards industry amounted to $743.0
million. Data on specific materials consumed appear in file MC92F7.

Single-establishment companies in this industry with less than 15 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 6 percent of the total value
of shipments.