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DataSearch
Electrical Distributor Industry Sales by County
About DataSearch
DataSearch provides forecasts of electrical distributor sales for each state and county where there is an electrical distributor branch location. A branch is an establishment. There are almost 3150 counties in the United States and electrical distributors have branches or establishments in 1383 counties.
How the Numbers Come Together
The basic source document for DataSearch is the U. S. Bureau of the Census, which conducts a 100% canvass of the universe of electrical distributors. This is not a sample but defines the entire universe.
The Census Bureau has access to employer identification numbers and business tax returns and therefore is able to identify all distributors. Once every five years the Census Bureau collects business information from distributors and publishes the information in the Census of Wholesale Trade. The information ranges in scope from dollar sales to number of employees, payroll, type of firm (corporation, sole proprietor, etc.), inventories, etc.
Through surveys DISC Corp. has developed more than 25 years of historical annual and quarterly data, profiling not only total sales but also customer type sales as well, connecting the intervening data series between the five-year Census of Wholesale Trade publications.
How Forecasts are Made
Industry forecasts are based on relationships between industry sales and the economic indicators that drive the electrical distribution industry. These indicators, such as various types of construction and investment spending, are plugged into the equations, which define the relationship between distributor sales and economic activity.
Forecast Performance
Historically over a long period of time our forecasts are capable of operating within an error range of 2.3%. Over the last five year Census the average annual error was less than 1.5%.
DISC Corp. does not forecast the economic indicators. Forecasts of the economic indicators are separately maintained by Global Insight, which is the world's largest private economic forecasting company.
The DataSearch database is updated twice a year with full county level forecasts. In addition to the release of the database, a hard copy report -- the DISC Report -- is made available four times a year to clients. The DISC Report provides written analyses of the general economic environment and its impact on the electrical distribution industry.
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