1992 CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE COMMODITY LINE SALES Introduction =>GENERAL The 1992 Census of Wholesale Trade, part of the 1992 Economic Census, covered wholesale trade as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual (Standard Industrial Classification: 1987. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Stock No. 041-001-00314-2). It included all establishments with one or more paid employees primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; other wholesalers; or industrial, commercial, institutional, farm, or professional users. Companies selling products to which they have title, as well as to those acting as agents or brokers in buying 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 in this report do not include data for establishments which are "auxiliary" (primary function is providing a service, such as warehouses) to other establishments within the same organization. Data for auxiliaries are presented in a subsequent report issued as part of the 1992 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 of products by wholesalers. The "Coverage and Methodology" menu choice provides a more detailed explanation of census coverage and methodology. =>COMMODITY LINE SALES This report represents a recompilation of establishments and sales data collected in the 1992 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. Therefore, they do not meet many important data needs of manufacturers, retailers, the Government, business analysts, wholesalers, and other data users. 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 1992 Census of Wholesale Trade, the Bureau of the Census consulted extensively with trade associations and business firms, both for advise 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 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, therefore, this information may be released even though other information is withheld. =>GEOGRAPHIC AREAS COVERED This report presents data for the United States as a whole. Also, the following States and Metropolitan Areas (MA's) were included based on their wholesale size: States: California Michigan North Carolina Florida Minnesota Ohio Georgia Missouri Pennsylvania Illinois New Jersey Tennessee Massachusetts New York Texas Metropolitan Areas: Atlanta, GA MSA Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI CMSA Cleveland-Akron, OH CMSA Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CMSA Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI CMSA Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX CMSA Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL CMSA Minneapolis-St Paul, MN-WI MSA New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA CMSA Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD CMSA San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA =>DOLLAR VALUES All dollar values presented in this report are expressed in current dollars, i.e., 1992 data are expressed in 1992 dollars and 1987 data in 1987 dollars. Consequently, when making comparisons to prior years, users of the data should consider the inflation that has occurred. =>RELIABILITY OF DATA The commodity line sales data presented in this report are based, in part, upon a sample and, therefore, are subject to both sampling errors and nonsampling errors. Specifically, these data are estimated based on information obtained from census questionnaires mailed to all large employers and to a sample of small employers in the wholesale universe. Sampling errors affect these estimates insofar as they may differ from a complete enumeration. 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, processing, and estimation for missing reported data. The reliability of the commodity line sales estimates in this report is determined by the joint effects of sampling and nonsampling errors. No direct measurement of nonsampling errors 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. For more detailed information on the sampling procedure, estimation procedure, and sampling error that apply to these data, see the "Coverage and Methodology" menu choice. File 3, "WC92L3.dbf Sales Coverage by Kind of Business" presents information on commodity line sales coverage for the published estimates and the "Coverage and Methodology" menu choice describes the derivation and significance of these coverage data. Also, see file 2, "WC92A2.dbf Ratios and Comparative Statistics", for an indication on the extent that data for kind-of-business totals included in this report were obtained from the administrative records of other Federal agencies and from estimation, rather than reports directly from respondents. Finally, it should be noted that selected data in these files are not subject to sampling errors, but may be affected by nonsampling errors. These data are the figures presented for wholesale trade at each kind-of-business and type-of-operation category on total number of establishments and total sales for establishments. These figures are based on data obtained either from census questionnaires or from the administrative records of other Federal agencies and are not estimates derived from a sample. =>SPECIAL TABULATIONS Special tabulations of data collected in the 1992 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 information (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, Services Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233. To discuss a special tabulation before submitting specifications, call 1-800-541-8345.