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Industry Research

This guide is a collection of resources that will help you with your industry research. You can look for ready made industry profiles or you can compile your own with information from a variety of sources.

Key resources for US industry profiles

Industry profiles can be found in the following databases in our library collection. Below you will also find some strategies you can use to easily find US reports in our databases. 

  • icon of a building Users listed next to this icon have access on campus. (This will often say ALL indicating all users have access on campus. There are a few exceptions.) 
  • icon of a house Users listed next to this icon have access off campus.

ABI/Inform

Search tips:

  • Search by industry related keyword in the Anywhere field + “Plunkett Analytics Reports” in Publication title, click on title and then on Full text – PDF on the left.
  • Fitch reports can be found by using Fitch or “Fitch Solutions Industry Insight Reports” in the Publication Title field + industry related keyword in the Anywhere field + “United States” in the Location field.
  • Another strategy to get to these reports is to search by BMI in the Anywhere field + industry related keyword in the “Anywhere except full text” field, but this strategy will yield slightly more diverse results.

 

Business Source Premier

Search tips:

  • Search by “MarketLine industry” in the title + United States in the title
  • MarketLine in title + industry keyword in title + “United States” in title

EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit)

Search tips:

  • Business Monitor International (BMI) and First Research reports provided via ProQuest ABI/Inform Complete.

First Research

Gale Business: Insights

Search tips:

  • Business Insights: Essentials includes Plunkett reports. From Browse go to Plunkett reports.

IbisWorld

Mergent Online

Search tips:

  • Choose the Industry analysis tab, then click on Reports for detailed information. 

Additional recommended websites

Bureau of Economic Analysis Industry facts

US Bureau of Labor Statistics Industry at a Glance – click on Alphabetical Index for quick browsing

US Census Bureau  Business and Economy - economic data across the entire economy on a monthly, quarterly, yearly, and five-year basis. Browse by topic.

Data USA Industries Visualization engine of public US Government data. Find out more about

  • occupations, from teachers to welders to web developers
  • industries--where they are thriving, where they are declining and their interconnectedness to each other.

Deloitte Industry Outlooks - covers key trends, challenges, and opportunities. Click on the blue arrows to see what sectors are covered. You can also start from the Industries tab at the top of the page.