/PRNewswire/ - The number of U.S. breweries more than doubled — from 398 to 869 — between 2007 and 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today from the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series. The breweries industry reported $28.3 billion in shipments in 2012, an increase of nearly 33.6 percent since 2007.

Employment in the breweries industry (NAICS 312120) also climbed over the five-year span — rising to 26,077 employees in 2012, up by 3,825 or 17.2 percent, from 22,252 in 2007. While overall employment grew, the average number of employees per establishment was nearly halved, from 56 in 2007 to 30 in 2012. Average payroll per employee changed little between 2007 and 2012, increasing by 4.4 percent over the five-year period. Detailed data for the manufacturing industry series can be found here; specific product or service statistics for this series can be found here. 

These data are part of the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series, which publishes data profiles of detailed industries, including information on the specific product and service — data only available from the economic census. These data are collected for establishments, which are typically single physical locations of a business that produce or distribute goods or perform services.

For example, the economic census data tell us that beer shipments in kegs have grown substantially but still represent just a fraction of overall beer shipments. Specifically:

Beer shipments in barrels and kegs rose 88.2 percent to $2.4 billion in 2012. In 2012, kegs represented 8.6 percent of beer shipments, up from 6.1 percent in 2007.

In comparison, beer shipments in cans increased 32.1 percent between 2007 and 2012: $10.9 billion to $14.3 billion.