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Data-Gathering Resources 191

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION CODES
(SIC AND NAICS)
• North American Industry Classification System (www
.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html)—From the Census
Department, the North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) provides common industry definitions for
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The NAICS is a
joint effort of the U.S. Economic Classification Policy
Committee, Statistics Canada, and Mexico’s Instituto
Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica. With the
goals of better comparing economic and financial statistics
and ensuring that such statistics keep pace with the chang-
ing economy, the NAICS has begun to replace the coun-
tries’ separate classification systems—including SIC codes
in the United States—with one uniform system for classify-
ing industries. This site does a good job of explaining the
new system and provides information from government
sources. One great feature of this site is the NAICS and SIC
comparability table.
There is also an unofficial NAICS site that pulls
together information on NAICS, this time from govern-
ment as well as nongovernment sources.
• Standard Industrial Classification Search (www.osha.gov
/oshstats/sicser.html)—This resource allows the user to
search the 1987 version of the SIC manual by keyword(s)
to find a four-digit SIC code and to access descriptive infor-
mation for a known four-digit SIC code.
• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)—
This printed resource contains detailed descriptions of
what NAICS codes mean. It describes what types of com-
panies are to be assigned which NAICS code.