Census Bureau Prepares 2022 Economic Survey

The US Census Bureau is beginning to release data from its 2022 Economic Census of businesses and also consolidated some of its annual business surveys, two officials said March 12.

The bureau spent 2023 collecting 2022 year-end data from businesses for the Economic Census and released preliminary data in January, Tandace Wilson, a statistician from the bureau’s Economic Management Division, said. The survey covered 19 sectors of the economy, including 950 industries classified by the North American Industry Classification System and 21,000 geographic areas, she said.

The survey found that there were 8 million employer establishments in the US, up from 7.4 million in 2017, Wilson said. An employer establishment means a single physical location where an employer does business and excludes businesses that do not have employees and most government employers. The establishments covered about 140 million employees with $8.6 trillion in annual payroll and $50.3 trillion in sales, revenue, or the value of shipments, Wilson said.

The preliminary data will be superseded by data broken down by geographical area, known as the Geographic Area Series, Wilson said. Preliminary data is only broken down by the first two or three digits of NAICS codes, which represent each large sector and then the largest subsector.

For example, the payroll services industry is under sector 54 for professional, scientific, and technical services and has the code 541214, Wilson said. The industry is defined as businesses, besides CPA firms, that collect information on hours worked, pay rates, deductions, and other payroll-related data and use that to generate paychecks, payroll reports, and tax filings without also doing accounting, bookkeeping, and billing, she said.

The Geographic Area Series is planned to be released in March 2025, added Chuck Brady, the branch chief of the respondent outreach and promotion branch in the bureau’s Economic Management Division, and will include employment from all industries.

Wilson and Brady spoke at PayrollOrg’s Capital Summit in Arlington, Virginia.

All data from the 2022 Economic Census is planned to be released at varying times from January 2024 to March 2026, Wilson said.

Payroll data reported in the surveys is before any taxes or deductions and includes amounts paid to corporate officers and executives, Wilson said.

Annual Surveys Combined

The Annual Integrated Business Survey is a new survey that consolidates seven other annual business surveys, Wilson said. A sample was mailed out to about 8,300 businesses in fall 2023 and the first formal mailout is March 15, she said.

Like other business surveys, the AIES will collect employment and payroll data. Data from the AIES is planned to be released starting in summer 2025, according to the bureau’s website.

A webinar on responding to the AIES will be held March 20 at 11 a.m. Eastern.