SIC Codes or Standard Industrial Classification System has been introduced by the Interdepartmental Conference on Industrial Classification, which was organized in 1934. The idea and concept of SIC were later taken to Central Statistical Board and was discussed that there should be an established continuing committee. This team should introspect to explore the prevailing problems of industrial classification of statistical data. In the year 1937, the Central Statistical Board had set up an Interdepartmental Committee on Industrial Classification for the role of developing a plan of division of various types of statistical data by sorting on the basis of industry types and to encourage the general adoption of such industry classification as the standard classification of the Federal Government.
On the first meeting and discussion, dated June 22, 1937, a technical committee was set up to prepare the strategies on the proposed standard classification of the industries. The project was made in such a way to distinguish between the industries in a broad sense of economic activities such as agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing, wholesale, fisheries, construction, retail, finance, insurance, communication, gas, electric, sanitary, and transportation services.
The established technical Committee has to work on manufacturing industries first and later on the other list of industries in 1938. The Interagency Committee accepted it. This Committee had to discuss coding issues at the same meeting in non-manufacturing fields. It came to a conclusion to authorize the establishment of subcommittees of experts in different non-manufacturing and manufacturing sectors to work on the set of proposed classifications. This eventually led to the creating of the Lists of different Industries.
In 1938, The List of Industries for manufacturing was first made available, followed by a List of Industries for non-manufacturing and manufacturing industries in 1939. These two Lists of Industries turned out to be the first Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) for the United States.
The first edition of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC Code) Manual was put out in the duplicated form as follows:
Volume 1: Manufacturing Industry
⇒ Covered in different parts, such as:
• Part 1 included a List of Industries, established in the year 1938.
• Part 2 included Description of Industries, established in the year 1940.
• Part 3 included the Alphabetic Index of Products, Establishments, and Processes, established in the year 1939.
• Part 4 included the Alphabetic Index of Products, Establishments, and Processes by Major Groups, established the year 1939.
Volume 2: Non-manufacturing Industry
⇒ Covered in different parts, such as:
• Part 1 included a List of Industries, established in the year 1939.
• Part 2 included Description of Industries, established in the year 1940.
• Part 3 included the Alphabetic Index of Products, Establishments, and Services, established in the year 1940.
• Part 4 included the Alphabetic Index of Products, Establishments, and Services by Major Groups, established in the year 1940.
Revised Version of SIC Code
Post the year 1939; SIC Codes had been vastly used for a reasonable long time. At the same time, the Central Statistical Board transferred the project to the Bureau of the Budget. It is then that introspection was conducted, and relevant changes or, as we may say, revisions were made. Once the review was completed successfully, the first printed edition of Manufacturing Industries was published in the year 1941 and of Non-manufacturing Industries in the year 1942.
In the year 1945, a new edition of Volume I, Manufacturing Industries, was published, which was of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual. It was published in two different parts:
• Part 1 consisted of the Titles and Descriptions of Industries, in the year November 1945
• Part 2 consisted of the Alphabetic Index, in the year December 1945
These publications helped in reflecting the technological advancements in the industry developed during World War II, as well as alterations as they were recommended by users of the 1941 classification.
Another session of alterations was made of Volume II, Non-manufacturing Industries, which was later published in the year 1949. This, along with the Manufacturing (of 1945), was established on the same basic principles. They were strategized on the same type of committee structure as were the earlier ones of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual.
The revised (SIC) Standard Industrial Classification combined both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries into one book. It was then published in July 1957.
A review of the 1957 edition of the book of the Manual, based on data from the Economic Censuses for all in-scope industries, and relevant information from the records of the Social Security Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Employment Security for all out-of-scope industries was successfully completed in the year 1962.
All the changes were effectively adopted as the result of the review was successfully incorporated in a supplement to the year 1957 edition. It was later published in 1963. There were more revisions that took place in the years 1972 and 1977, respectively.
On February 22, 1984, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a Federal Register notice to revise the Standard Industrial Classification for 1987. It was then the businesses, trade associations, individuals, and Federal, State, and local government agencies had submitted proposals for over 1100 separate sets of changes. The last revision that took place was by the United States Government of the SIC was in the year 1987.