“Production workers” refers to workers up through the line-supervisor level engaged in fabricating, processing, assembling, inspecting, receiving, packing, warehoursing, shipping (but not delivering) maintenance, repair, janitorial, guard services, product development, auxiliary production for the plant’s own use (e.g., power plant workers), recordkeeping, and other closely associated services (including truck drivers delivering ready-mixed concrete).

"Payroll" includes the gross earnings of all employees on the payrolls of operating manufacturing establishments paid in the calendar year. Respondents were told they could follow the definition of payrolls used for calculating the federal withholding tax. It includes all forms of compensation, such as salaries, wages, commissions, dismissal pay, bonuses, vacation and sick leave pay, and compensation in kind, prior to such deductions as employees' social security contributions, withholding taxes, group insurance, union dues, and savings bonds. The total includes salaries of officers of corporations; it excludes payments to proprietors or partners of unincorporated concerns. Also excluded are payments to members of Armed Forces and pensioners carried on the active payrolls of manufacturing establishments.

The census definition of payrolls is identical to that recommended to all federal statistical agencies by the Office of Management and Budget. It should be noted that this definition does not include employers' social security contributions or other nonpayroll labor costs, such as employees' pension plans, group insurance premiums, and workers' compensation.

Note: Beginning with the 2006 ASM, for employment and related fields (payroll, production hours, benefits), respondents were asked to report only those full- and part-time employees whose payroll was reported on the IRS Form 941 filing for the Employer Identification Number (EIN) used by that manufacturing establishment. Other temporary workers and workers whose payroll was reported under a different company's EIN were reported elsewhere on the form. These data will not be released for the 2006 ASM. In 2002, these data constituted between 1 and 1 1/2% of the total for these fields. Comparisons of 2006 data and data for earlier years should be used with caution.