This specialized business source is packed with detailed information about American industry. Produced by the economic forecasting and consulting firm WEFA (formerly, Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates), it is designed to "paint a picture of the economic health of an industry over the last ten years, in the very near term future, and looking forward to the year 2006," as stated in the preface. This survey will give business researchers easy, ready-reference type access to data on topics such as supply, demand, customers, export markets, technology trends, and production costs.
Information is presented in six broad industry groups, each defined by standard industrial classification (SIC) code ranges: agriculture, mining, construction; nondurable goods manufacturing; durable goods manufacturing; transportation, communication, utilities; wholesale trade, retail trade; and finance, insurance, real estate, services. The introduction provides the overall economic framework within which the six separate industry forecasts have been formulated. This introduction touches on short-and long-term federal policy, longterm forecast highlights, and the world economic outlook.
Part 3, "Durable Goods Manufacturing," serves as a clear example of how data are presented to the reader. It includes 10 chapters, from "Lumber and Wood Products" to "Miscellaneous Manufacturing." Each chapter is, in turn, subdivided by SIC codes. Thus, the chapter covering computers and electronic equipment subdivides into SIC 357 for computers and office machines, SIC 366 for communication equipment, SIC 367 for electronic components, and so on.
The subsection on communication equipment (SIC code 366) is four pages in length, with three pages of text and a fourth page offering several graphs and charts. This subsection explains, among other things, that communication equipment shipments grew at an annual rate of 7.9 percent during the 1986^-96 period and reached $72.6 billion last year. Domestic demand for communication equipment grew during the 1986^-96 decade at 6.2 percent, exports grew by almost 17 percent, and growth in communication equipment is expected to remain strong over the next decade, growing by 11 percent per year. Some of the major players in this field, such as Sprint and GTE, are highlighted. The graphs and charts show sales growth, product prices, and 1990^-98 sales, exports, imports, and consumption.
Unlike many other print business sources, WEFA Industrial Monitor is very user friendly, with good-size type and plenty of white space between text sections. Also, the style of writing is clear and will not be troublesome to inexperienced business researchers. The price is reasonable, especially in view of the fact that the information presented will have value for many years to come. A CD-ROM version is also available ($149, 0-471-19713-9).
This is a recommended purchase for medium to large academic libraries and larger public libraries that support serious business research. It nicely complements other industry sources such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's
