The report covered jobs in performing arts; visual arts and photography; film, radio, and television; museums and collections; design and publishing; and arts schools and services. Businesses included in the study were defined as those devoted to arts, and not merely employing creativity (such as software programming and scientific research). Advertising companies, however, fell under the arts-centric rubric.

Because the study used Dun & Bradstreet's database of active businesses, the report admits to underrepresenting both nonprofit arts organizations and individual artists.

The study concludes that arts-centric businesses in the Dun & Bradstreet databases total 578,487, or 4.4 percent, of all U.S. businesses. The jobs created by these businesses represent 2.2 percent of all jobs.

In 2005, the total number of performing-arts businesses was 101,828, with 482,489 employees.

New York City's 14th Congressional District (which covers the East Side from the top of Central Park to the Lower East Side and parts of Queens) has the most arts employees in the country, with 119,320 employees in 8,033 businesses.

The 8th Congressional District (which includes Times Square and the theater district), came in second, with 81,969 employees in 8,795 businesses.

The survey's analysis concludes that these creative industries are growing faster than other U.S. businesses. From 2004 to 2005, number of arts-centric businesses grew 5.5 percent, compared to 3.83 percent growth overall. Dun & Bradstreet data also shows that the dip in general employment that the country saw last year was greater than dip in arts-centric employment.

Because these creative industries are growing, the report concludes, federal policy should increase support for the arts, give incentives to programs that encourage the arts, and make an investment in arts education to bolster the next generation of arts workers and consumers.