Industry and Market Research

Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios (REF HF 5681 R25 I53) Published annually by Dun & Bradstreet this is the most widely used of our books in this area. Arrangement is 4 digit SIC number. There are various ways to locate SIC numbers but one of the easiest is to use the Standard Industrial Classification Manual (the latest edition is kept at the Circulation/Reserve Desk).

Less comprehensive than Industry Norms but still a major source for industry ratios. Use the 4 digit SIC numbers as well as the 6 digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The NAICS is now used by the U.S. government as the replacement for the Standard Industrial Classification system. A guide to this system is kept in Reference. The tile of the book is NAICS/SIC CODE(REF HF 1042 N677).

Uses data from IRS filings. For this reason, the numbers are generally three years older than from the other two titles described above.

A subsection of the Advertising Age site, the Datacenter features premium content, including profiles of top advertisers, media, agencies and more. “Read more” links in each section give a brief history of primary research reports.

This database from the Census provides operating expenses for selected industries in the U.S. The most current data is for 2012.

Approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries starting in 1948. Includes exchange rates, fund accounts and the main global and country economic indicators.

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A U.S. Department of Commerce monthly publication that provides data on U.S. business on the regional, national, and international levels. Among statistical series covered are personal income, inventories and sales, national income and product accounts, foreign direct investment in the United States, U.S. direct investment abroad, international transactions, and gross state product.