Census Report Shows IT Boom

A new Census Bureau report shows a boom in the IT industry in recent years, citing big gains in everything from employment numbers to online spending.

The Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2000 was released last week by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and is compiled from numerous sources of data, not including the 2000 Census. "We talked to about 300 different federal, private and international organizations to come up with this portrait of America," says Glenn King, chief of the Census Bureau's office of Statistical Compendia and coordinator of the report.

The 1,012-page abstract covers a range of topics, from prescription drug sales to prison operating expenditures. It has been published every year since 1878, and is being expanded to include analysis of new technologies and businesses. King says the bureau has just begun to examine many aspects of IT growth but will be looking more deeply into it in coming years.

According to the report, information technology (defined as hardware, software, and services for computers and communications) grew from a $371 billion industry in 1992, accounting for 5.9% of the U.S. economy's gross domestic income, to an estimated $815 billion or 8.3% of the economy in 2000. The software and services segment, which covers an area ranging from the sale of prepackaged software to systems design, was the fastest-growing category, more than tripling from a $75 billion industry in 1992 to one with an estimated income of $246 billion in 2000.

Gross Domestic Income in Information Technologies (IT) Industries: 1992 to 2000 [in millions of dollars]
Industry	1992	1995	1998	1999	2000
Total all IT industries	371,080	491,292	665,530	746,092	814,727
Percent share of the economy	5.9	6.7	7.6	8.0	8.3
Hardware	110,050	155,409	210,914	226,214	243,506
Computers and equipment, calc. machines	24,102	31,036	39,211	42,622	46,330
Computers and equipment wholesale sales	39,743	51,114	75,084	81,106	88,162
Computers and equipment retail sales	1,915	2,861	3,407	3,687	4,008
Electron tubes	1,053	1,206	1,317	1,402	1,493
Printed circuit boards	3,556	4,406	5,527	5,604	5,683
Semiconductors	18,308	40,836	57,055	60,763	64,713
Passive electronic components	13,494	15,310	12,072	12,881	13,744
Industrial instruments for measurement	2,552	2,526	4,874	5,215	5,580
Instruments for measuring electricity	3,493	3,981	8,383	8,953	9,562
Laboratory analytical instruments	1,835	2,134	3,986	3,982	4,233
Software/services	75,490	111,350	185,609	213,986	245,644
Computer programming services	18,624	26,120	47,796	55,013	62,715
Prepackaged software	14,555	22,768	34,497	40,016	46,419
Computer integrated systems design	11,814	13,599	24,692	28,420	32,598
Computer processing and data preparation	12,554	21,844	28,062	32,300	37,048
Information retrieval services	2,879	3,910	8,977	10,333	11,852
Computer services management	1,910	2,090	2,942	3,386	3,884
Computer rental leasing	1,528	1,880	2,944	3,389	3,887
Computer maintenance and repair	4,989	6,949	10,029	11,544	13,241
Computer related services	4,406	9,305	21,261	24,472	28,069
Communications hardware	23,970	30,775	46,710	49,151	51,816
Telephone and telegraph equipment	10,251	12,139	21,807	22,592	23,405
Radio and TV communications equipment	10,134	14,310	20,642	22,252	23,987
Communications services	161,570	193,758	222,298	256,740	273,761
Telephone and telegraph communications	129,960	145,491	159,712	189,400	199,109
Television broadcasting	11,649	18,442	22,740	23,520	26,551
Cable and other pay TV services	14,992	21,778	29,798	32,266	35,231

An estimated 5.2 million people were employed in IT in 1998, up 33% from 3.9 million in 1992. That rate far outpaces the total private industry job growth of about 18% over that period. Again, software and services were the fastest-growing segment of the industry, up 90% to 1.6 million jobs in 1998 from 854,000 in 1992. Private-industry IT wages increased nearly 20% from an average of $25,400 annually in 1992 to $31,400 in 1998.

Information Technologies (IT) - Employment and Wages: 1992 to 1998
	Employment (1,000s)			Annual wages per worker ($)
Industry	1992	1995	1998	1992	1995	1998
Total private industry	89,956	97,885	106,007	25,400	27,200	31,400
Total IT-producing industry	3,875	4,240	5,156	41,300	46,400	58,000
Hardware	1,436	1,475	1,708	42,400	46,300	58,000
Electronic computers	242	190	200	52,400	59,600	83,900
Computers and equipment wholesalers	277	285	367	52,500	54,300	69,700
Computers and equipment retailers	75	94	126	32,200	33,800	40,400
Computer storage devices & peripherals	91	105	119	41,200	46,500	57,400
Computer terminals, office & accounting machines	58	58	61	43,300	46,600	56,900
Electron tubes	27	24	20	38,400	41,900	46,400
Semiconductors	217	235	284	44,500	53,800	64,400
Printed circuit boards, electronic capacitors	157	187	208	25,700	28,300	32,900
Electronic components	127	135	148	29,700	32,900	37,500
Industrial instruments for measurement	61	64	67	35,100	38,400	46,400
Instruments for measuring electricity	76	71	77	42,500	51,600	62,900
Analytical instruments	28	28	32	38,700	44,200	54,300
Software/services	854	1,110	1,625	44,300	50,700	65,300
Computer programming services	169	245	370	46,200	52,700	64,700
Prepackaged software	131	181	252	5,700	63,700	94,100
Computer integrated systems design	103	130	178	48,600	54,700	65,400
Computer processing and data preparation	204	223	254	34,400	39,700	45,800
Information retrieval services	45	57	98	36,700	42,200	63,700
Computer maintenance and repair	43	49	60	36,600	37,800	41,200
Computer services management, rental & leasing, maintenance & repair	141	205	387	46,000	51,800	64,100
Communications equipment	317	337	353	38,900	43,200	53,700
Telephone and telegraph equipment	110	112	126	42,400	49,900	62,400
Radio and TV communications equipment	129	153	156	39,100	42,700	52,100
Communications services	1,269	1,318	1,469	38,600	43,700	50,900
Telephone communications	885	900	1,007	41,400	46,800	53,700
Telephone and telegraph communications	26	27	35	41,700	48,500	56,200
Television broadcasting	115	123	131	41,400	47,200	54,600
Cable and other pay TV services	131	156	181	29,600	34,600	42,200

The total number of telecommunications carriers (including local service, wireless, and toll-service providers) increased 46% from 2,847 in 1994 to 4,144 in 1998. Telecommunications revenues saw a similar surge, jumping 41% from $175 billion in 1994 to $246 billion in 1998.

Telecommunications Industry - Carriers and Revenues: 1994 to 1998 [Revenue in millions of dollars]
	Carriers					Telecommunications revenue (in million $)
Category	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Total	2,847	3,058	3,832	3,604	4,144	174,890	190,076	211,782	231,168	246,392
Local service providers	1,574	1,675	2,028	2,066	2,239	99,011	103,792	109,273	108,568< We welcome your comments on this topic on our social media channels, or [contact us directly] with questions about the site. Comment  |  Email This  |  Print  |  RSS More Insights Webcasts Getting SASE: What Every Enterprise Should Know End to End Automation: A Game Changer for Improving Workforce Efficiency More Webcasts White Papers Forrester's Planning for Failure: How to Survive a Breach Questions to Ask in Evaluating a Deception-Based Cybersecurity Solution More White Papers Reports Increased Cooperation Between Access Brokers, Ransomware Operators Reviewed [Tech Insights] SASE's Pandemic Boost Likely to Stick More Reports Comments Newest First  |  Oldest First  |  Threaded View [close this box] Be the first to post a comment regarding this story. 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