2017 NAICS Code Changes

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Greg Chmura

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), used to classify businesses for statistical economic data, is typically updated every five years to reflect the changing economy. There were relatively few changes for the set of new codes just released for use with 2017 data.  However, there certainly were some interesting as well as notable changes.

Highlights of the changes are detailed in the table below. Also shown in this table are the employment figures for 2016 and the change over the preceding ten years. The NAICS code changes include industries splitting and merging as well as changes in code while the descriptions remain the same.

Some of the industries involved in these changes have experienced extreme employment contractions or expansions. Video tape and disc rental, for example, has seen employment plummet from over 150,000 in 2004 to under 12,000 in 2016.[1] On the other extreme, employment in electronic shopping soared over the same period from a little over 50,000 to over 230,000.

video_tape

electronic_shopping

2012-2017 NAICS Change Industries and Employment
2017 NAICS Code 2017 NAICS Title 2012 NAICS Code 2012 NAICS Title
(and specific piece of the 2012 industry that is
contained in the 2017 industry)
2016 Empl Change in Empl, 2006-16 Percent Change in Empl, 2006-16
211120 Crude Petroleum Extraction 211111 Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Extraction - crude petroleum extraction 167,722 37,530 29%
211130 Natural Gas Extraction 211111 Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Extraction - natural gas extraction (above) (above) (above)
211130 Natural Gas Extraction 211112 Natural Gas Liquid Extraction 7,254 2,584 55%
 
212230 Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining 212231 Lead Ore and Zinc Ore Mining 2,336 618 36%
212230 Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining 212234 Copper Ore and Nickel Ore Mining 13,021 3,009 30%
 
333914 Measuring, Dispensing, and Other Pumping Equipment Manufacturing 333911 Pump and Pumping Equipment Manufacturing 25,623 -2,990 -10%
333914 Measuring, Dispensing, and Other Pumping Equipment Manufacturing 333913 Measuring and Dispensing Pump Manufacturing 3,232 363 13%
 
335220 Major Household Appliance Manufacturing 335221 Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing 13,718 -4,247 -24%
335220 Major Household Appliance Manufacturing 335222 Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing 15,716 -2,270 -13%
335220 Major Household Appliance Manufacturing 335224 Household Laundry Equipment Manufacturing 804 -13,653 -94%
335220 Major Household Appliance Manufacturing 335228 Other Major Household Appliance Manufacturing 20,544 8,141 66%
 
452210 Department Stores 452111 Department Stores (except Discount Department Stores) 489,924 -189,027 -28%
452210 Department Stores 452112 Discount Department Stores - insignificant perishable grocery sales 848,373 -75,612 -8%
452311 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 452112 Discount Department Stores - significant perishable grocery sales (above) (above) (above)
452311 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 452910 Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 1,492,718 434,592 41%
452319 All Other General Merchandise Stores 452990 All Other General Merchandise Stores 415,715 88,325 27%
 
454110 Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses 454111 Electronic Shopping 230,662 161,623 234%
454110 Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses 454112 Electronic Auctions 10,916 6,319 137%
454110 Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses 454113 Mail-Order Houses 125,782 -34,615 -22%
 
512250 Record Production and Distribution 512210 Record Production 1,887 -709 -27%
512250 Record Production and Distribution 512220 Integrated Record Production/Distribution 3,867 177 5%
 
541713 Research and Development in Nanotechnology 541711 Research and Development in Biotechnology - nanobiotechnologies research and experimental development laboratories 170,841 30,644 22%
541713 Research and Development in Nanotechnology 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology) - nanotechnology research and experimental development laboratories 469,811 46,291 11%
541714 Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) 541711 Research and Development in Biotechnology - except nanobiotechnologies research and experimental development laboratories (above) (above) (above)
541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology) - except nanotechnology research and experimental development laboratories (above) (above) (above)
 
517311 Wired Telecommunications Carriers 517110 Wired Telecommunications Carriers 590,299 -105,104 -15%
517312 Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) 517210 Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) 123,076 -78,446 -39%
532281 Formal Wear and Costume Rental 532220 Formal Wear and Costume Rental 7,051 -6,834 -49%
532282 Video Tape and Disc Rental 532230 Video Tape and Disc Rental 11,901 -115,784 -91%
532283 Home Health Equipment Rental 532291 Home Health Equipment Rental 38,641 -609 -2%
532284 Recreational Goods Rental 532292 Recreational Goods Rental 14,428 3,347 30%
532289 All Other Consumer Goods Rental 532299 All Other Consumer Goods Rental 63,032 17,520 38%
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and JobsEQ

The next scheduled review of NAICS codes is for a possible 2022 revision.

 

[1] All employment references in this article refer to Covered Employment as reported in the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

 

This blog reflects Chmura staff assessments and opinions with the information available at the time the blog was written.