Industries at a Glance: Information: NAICS 51

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; Web search portals, data processing industries, and the information services industries.

The Information sector groups three types of establishments: (1) those engaged in producing and distributing information and cultural products; (2) those that provide the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications; and (3) those that process data.

North American Industry Classification System

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in information. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, job openings and labor turnover, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, Layoffs, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Union Membership and Representation

Dynamic Changes in Employment

Extended Mass Layoffs

Employment by Occupation

Projections

Data series	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Apr. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	2,628	2,636	(P) 2,630	(P) 2,628
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	2,114	2,123	(P) 2,118	(P) 2,118
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	7.9%	8.4%	8.0%	8.3%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	33	42	49	35
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	2,925	4,456	9,195	4,024
Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)
Job openings	87	88	(P) 88
Hires	57	55	(P) 53
Separations	92	48	(P) 70
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

Data series	2008	2009	2010	2011
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	12.7%	10.0%	9.6%	10.1%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	13.7%	11.2%	10.9%	10.8%

Data series	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)
Gross job gains	127	111	124	123
Gross job losses	138	130	129	122

Data series	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012
Extended mass layoff events	56	98	(P) 74	(P) 51
Separations	15,755	23,673	(P) 24,160	(P) 15,617
Initial claimants	17,470	42,888	(P) 44,157	(P) 13,505
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

Data series	Employment, 2011
Computer software engineers, applications
Computer support specialists
Customer service representatives	165,970
Network and computer systems administrators
Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers	147,860

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for information.

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in information. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Union Membership and Representation

Earnings by Occupation

Employer Compensation Costs

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in information. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in information.

Data series	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Apr. 2012
Average hourly earnings	$31.58	$31.60	(P) $31.59	(P) $31.57
Average weekly hours	36.7	36.7	(P) 36.7	(P) 36.7
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

Data series	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Apr. 2012
Average hourly earnings	$26.74	$26.71	(P) $26.80	(P) $26.80
Average weekly hours	36.2	36.0	(P) 36.0	(P) 35.9
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
Data series	Back data	2008	2009	2010	2011
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$898	$905	$912	$940
Members of unions		$1,011	$1,105	$1,018	$1,122
Represented by unions		$1,001	$1,083	$998	$1,117
Nonunion		$871	$883	$895	$916

Data series	Wages, 2011
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Computer software engineers, applications
Computer support specialists
Customer service representatives	$15.78	$17.36	$32,820	$36,100
Network and computer systems administrators
Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers	$26.89	$26.13	$55,920	$54,340

Data series	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012
12-month percent change
Total compensation	2.3%	2.0%	2.3%	3.2%
Wages and salaries	1.8%	1.5%	1.9%	1.0%

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics