2022 NAICS industry codes for unemployment insurance accounts

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                    UI
               ADVISORY SYSTEM                               CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                           OUI/DUIO
             Washington, D.C. 20210                          DATE
                                                             December 29, 2021


ADVISORY:        UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 08-22

TO:              STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:            ANGELA HANKS
                 Acting Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:         Changes to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes
                 for Calendar Year 2022

1. Purpose. This Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) provides information to
   state workforce agencies about changes to NAICS coding for calendar year (CY) 2022 and
   requests states to update industry codes on employer unemployment insurance (UI) accounts
   to ensure states correctly code subject employers.

2. Action Requested. State Workforce Agency (SWA) Administrators should provide this
   information to appropriate staff to ensure SWA departments that assign NAICS codes to
   employer accounts use the NAICS 2022 codes for uniform coding of employers’ industry
   classification that states will use for statistical and reporting purposes on and after January 1,
   2022.

3. Summary and Background.

       a. Summary – The NAICS is a system for classifying business establishments (individual
          business locations) by type of economic activity in Canada, Mexico and the United
          States. Its purposes are: (1) to facilitate the collection, tabulation, presentation, and
          analysis of data relating to establishments; and (2) to promote uniformity and
          comparability in the presentation and analysis of statistical data describing the North
          American economy. NAICS is used by Federal statistical agencies that collect or
          publish data by industry. States must have NAICS codes on their files for the Bureau
          of Labor Statistics (BLS) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
          program, as well as for other statistical and reporting programs.

       b. Background – To ensure the relevance, accuracy, and timeliness of the classifications,
          NAICS is reviewed every five years to determine what, if any, changes are required.
          Such a review has recently been completed, and revisions to NAICS codes have been
          made for 2022. Herein the new codes are referred to as “NAICS 2022.” The BLS
          Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program will implement NAICS
          2022 in the first quarter of CY 2022. Consequently, all state workforce agencies must

   RESCISSIONS                                                EXPIRATION DATE
   UIPL No. 02-17                                             Continuing

         convert the NAICS codes on existing UI accounts by January 1, 2022, and assign
         NAICS 2022 codes to new UI accounts beginning on or after January 1, 2022.

         Prior to NAICS 2022, NAICS codes were summarized in the 2017 U.S. NAICS
         manual. The BLS 2017 codes are available at the “Download” Tab of the BLS website:
         https://data.bls.gov/cew/apps/bls_naics/v3/bls_naics_app.htm#tab=search&naics=2022&keyword=%22medical%22&searchType=indexes&filter=6_filter&sort=text_asc&resultIndex=0.

         The NAICS 2022 United States Manual will be available in 2022. The manual will
         include definitions for each industry, background information, changes between 2017
         and 2022, and a comprehensive index. States can find a summary of the NAICS 2022
         changes at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/07/02/2021-14249/north-
         american-industry-classification-system-naics-updates-for-2022-update-of-statistical-
         policy.

         The BLS Web site currently provides a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file with a list
         of valid NAICS 2022 codes including titles and descriptions at the “Download” Tab
         https://data.bls.gov/cew/apps/bls_naics/v3/bls_naics_app.htm#tab=download&naics=2022. The CSV file is easily loaded into Microsoft Excel or other applications. Several
         files are available from the “Download” tab. Please use the file labeled “BLS NAICS
         2022 Titles and Descriptions”.

         The BLS NAICS 2022 Titles and Descriptions file should be used as a validation
         mechanism to ensure that only these codes are assigned to UI accounts for employers in
         state UI tax files on computer systems. NAICS codes that are not listed in the BLS
         NAICS 2022 Titles and Descriptions file should be treated as invalid and rejected from
         state UI tax files. State Information Technology (IT) staff with questions regarding the
         NAICS 2022 code files can obtain help from BLS QCEW staff by sending a request to
         [email protected].

4. Implementation. State Labor Market Information (LMI) staff or other state staff involved in
   industry classification have received NAICS 2022 codes previously and have converted all
   codes on LMI files for the QCEW report to NAICS 2022. States that maintain industry
   codes on UI tax files (as opposed to LMI files) must ensure that codes on UI tax files are
   NAICS 2022 codes and that they agree with codes on LMI files for the same employer. State
   staff responsible for assigning NAICS codes to employer UI accounts must convert existing
   UI accounts on tax systems to the new NAICS 2022 codes by January 1, 2022, and assign the
   NAICS 2022 codes to all new UI accounts on tax systems beginning January 1, 2022. If
   states implement use of the NAICS 2022 codes after January 1, 2022, states will need to
   retroactively correct NAICS codes used on employer accounts and/or correct incorrect UI tax
   rates if states use NAICS for assigning new and/or maximum employer tax rates.

   State staff seeking guidance for assigning new NAICS 2022 codes should consult and work
   cooperatively with their state LMI office or other state staff involved in industry
   classification coding to ensure that the coding is consistent, accurate, and timely.



       A number of states use industrial classification to establish both new and maximum employer tax
       rates. NAICS 2022 includes changes that may affect the assignment of UI tax rates in these
       states. Therefore, states that assign tax rates based on industry coding should be cognizant of
       these changes.

5. Inquiries. Please direct inquiries to the appropriate Regional Office.

6. References.

          North American Industry Classification System – Revision for 2022, December 21, 2021,
           https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/21/2021-27536/north-american-
           industry-classification-system-revision-for-2022-update-of-statistical-policy;
          North American Industry Classification System – Revision for 2017 – August 8, 2016,
           https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-08-08/pdf/2016-18774.pdf;
          UIPL No. 09-01, Required Preparations for Final Implementation of the North American
           Industry Classification System (NAICS) Coding, issued December 11, 2000,
           https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=1740.
          UIPL No. 02-17, Changes to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
           Codes for Calendar Year 2017, issued November 17, 2016.
           https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=5545
          UIPL No. 31-11, Changes to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
           Codes for Calendar Year 2012 issued September 20, 2012,
           https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=3081;

7. Attachment. None.