The information sector comprises establishments engaged in the following processes: (a) producing and distributing information and cultural products, (b) providing the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications, and (c) processing data. The main components of this sector are the publishing industries, including software publishing, and both traditional publishing and publishing exclusively on the Internet; the motion picture and sound recording industries; the broadcasting industries, including traditional broadcasting and those broadcasting exclusively over the Internet; the telecommunications industries; the industries known as Internet service providers and web search portals, data processing industries, and the information services industries.
Counts from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program show that as a portion of the national economy, information represents about 2.6 percent of all employment and 1.9 percent of all establishments.
Current Employment Statistics estimates show annual average information employment rising from 2,738,000 in 1994 to 3,631,000 in 2000, then declining. During 2003, information employment was 3,198,000, on average.
Employment of nonsupervisory workers in information stood at 1,928,000 in 1994 and rose to a high of 2,530,000 in 2001. In 2003, the number of nonsupervisory workers in information was 2,354,000, on average.
In 2003, the average weekly hours of nonsupervisory workers in information was 36.2, which was above the average of 33.7 for all private industry.
The average hourly earnings of information nonsupervisory workers were $21.01 in 2003, well above the average of $15.35 for production and nonsupervisory workers in all private industry.
According to the Current Population Survey, in 2003 the unemployment rate of persons most recently employed in the information sector was 6.8 percent, which was higher than the overall unemployment rate of 6.0 percent.
Data from the Mass Layoff Statistics program show that, in 2002, there were 299 extended mass layoff events in information, resulting in 58,603 separations of workers from their jobs and 62,047 initial claimants for unemployment insurance.
Employment Projections data indicate that employment in the information sector will increase 18.5 percent over the 2002-12 period. Total employment for all industry sectors is projected to increase 14.8 percent.
The Productivity and Costs program publishes estimates of labor productivity for selected industries in the information sector.
The Producer Price Index program publishes data for many industries in the information sector.
In 2003, there were 64 fatal occupational injuries in the information sector and 61,200 nonfatal injuries and illnesses, according to data from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. The nonfatal injuries and illnesses incidence rate was 2.2 per 100 full-time workers in information and 5.0 per 100 full-time workers in all private industry.
Some businesses in this industry are:
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Almanac Publishers (except Exclusive Internet Publishing) Archives Book Publishers Art Film Theater Atlas Publishers Cable and Other Program Distribution Cable Programming Cellular Telecommunications Data Processing Directory Publishers Greeting Card Publishers Internet Publishing Internet Service Providers Libraries Mailing List Publishers Motion Picture Production and Distribution Motion Picture Theaters Music Publishers |
News Syndicates Newspaper Publishers Online Business Paging Periodical Publishers Radio Networks Radio Stations Recording Studio Satellite Telecommunications Software Publishers Sound Recording Studios Teleproduction Services Television Broadcasting Video Production and Distribution Web Hosting Web Search Portals Wired Telecommunications Carriers |
Information courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
