82 FR 22097 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 91 (May 12, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 91 (Friday, May 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22097-22099]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09685]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Monthly Retail Surveys (Formerly Monthly Retail Trade Survey 
(MRTS) and Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MARTS)).
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0717.
    Form Number(s): MRTS: SM-44(17) S, SM-44(17) SE, SM-44(17) SS, SM-
44(17) B, SM-44(17) BE, SM-44(17) BS, SM-45(12) S, SM-45(12) SE, SM-
45(12) SS, SM-45(12) B, SM-45(12) BE, SM-45(12) BS, SM-72(17) S, and 
SM-20(17) I. MARTS: SM-44(17) A, SM-44(17) AE, SM-44(17) AS, and SM-
72(17) A.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 12,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 7 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 16,799.
    Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau plans to request a revision of 
the current Office of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys 
known as the Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) and the Advance Monthly 
Retail Trade Survey (MARTS). The MRTS and MARTS are related collections 
sharing the same initial sampling frame and jointly collect data that 
are published in conjunction with each other. These two surveys, 
currently cleared separately under control numbers 0607-0717 and 0607-
0104, respectively, will therefore be combined under one control number 
and will be collectively called the Monthly Retail Surveys (MRS).
    The MRS are administered monthly to a sample of employer firms 
(i.e., businesses with paid employees) with establishments located in 
the United States and classified in retail trade and/or food services 
sectors as defined by the North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS).
    The MRTS provides estimates of monthly retail sales, end-of-month 
merchandise inventories, and quarterly e-commerce sales of retailers in 
the United States. In addition, the survey also provides an estimate of 
monthly sales at food service establishments and drinking places.
    Sales, inventories, and e-commerce data provide a current 
statistical picture of the retail portion of consumer activity. The 
sales and inventories

[[Page 22098]]

estimates in the MRTS measure current trends of economic activity that 
occur in the United States. The survey estimates provide valuable 
information for economic policy decisions and actions by the government 
and are widely used by private businesses, trade organizations, 
professional associations, and others for market research and analysis. 
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses these data in determining 
the consumption portion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
    The MARTS, a subsample of MRTS, began in 1953 as a monthly survey 
for activity taking place during the previous month. MARTS was 
developed in response to requests by government, business, and other 
users to provide an early indication of current retail trade activity 
in the United States. Retail sales are one of the primary measures of 
consumer demand for both durable and non-durable goods. MARTS also 
provides an estimate of monthly sales at food service establishments 
and drinking places.
    Retail and Food Services Sales during 2016 were estimated at $5.5 
trillion. The estimates produced in the MRS are critical to the 
accurate measurement of total economic activity. The estimates of 
retail sales represent all operating receipts, including receipts from 
wholesale sales made at retail locations and services rendered as part 
of the sale of the goods, by businesses that primarily sell at retail. 
The sales estimates include sales made on credit as well as on a cash 
basis, but exclude receipts from sales taxes and interest charges from 
credit sales. Also excluded is non-operating income from such services 
as investments and real estate.
    The estimates of merchandise inventories owned by retailers 
represent all merchandise located in retail stores, warehouses, 
offices, or in transit for distribution to retail establishments. The 
estimates of merchandise inventories exclude fixtures and supplies not 
held for sale, as well as merchandise held on consignment owned by 
others. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) use inventories data to 
determine the investment portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 
We publish retail sales and inventories estimates based on the NAICS.
    Retail e-commerce sales are estimated from the same sample used to 
estimate preliminary and final U.S. retail sales. For coverage of the 
universe of e-commerce retailers, research was conducted to ensure that 
retail firms selected in the MRTS sample engaged in e-commerce. Total 
e-commerce sales for 2016 were estimated at $395 billion.
    Sales data for select industries are released in the press release 
``Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services,'' 
approximately 10 business days after the close of the reference month, 
which also includes more detailed estimates for the prior month. 
Advance inventory estimates for 3 aggregate levels are released in the 
``Advance Economic Indicator Report'' approximately 19 business days 
after the close of the reference month and the preliminary estimates 
for inventories data are released in the ``Manufacturing and Trade 
Inventories and Sales'' approximately 43 days after the reference 
month. E-commerce sales estimates are released quarterly as part of the 
``Quarterly Retail Ecommerce Sales'' report, approximately 45 days 
following the reference period.
    Each MRS form has two versions; one with an ``E'' suffix and one 
with an ``A'' Suffix. The forms are identical, except that those with 
the ``E'' suffix are sent to smaller firms (which we refer to 
internally as ``EINs''), while those with the ``A'' suffix are sent to 
larger firms, which we refer to internally as ``alphas''. Thus, there 
are a total of 36 variants of forms along with their fax counterparts. 
Forms can be found at https://www.census.gov/retail/get_forms.html.
    Please note that with the start of mailing for our next business 
sample revision for the December 2017 statistical period, we will be 
removing the leased department forms: SM-45(17) S, SM-45(17) SE, SM-
45(17) SS, SM-45(17) B, SM-45(17) BE, and SM-45(17) BS.
    The U.S. Census Bureau tabulates the collected data to provide, 
with measured reliability, statistics on United States retail sales. 
These estimates are especially valued by data users because of their 
timeliness.
    The sales estimates are used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
(BEA), Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and other government agencies, as 
well as business users in formulating economic decisions.
    BEA is the primary Federal user of data collected in the Monthly 
Retail Surveys. BEA uses the information in its preparation of the 
National Income and Products Accounts (NIPA), and its benchmark and 
annual input-output tables. Data on retail sales are used to prepare 
monthly estimates of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) 
component of gross domestic product for all PCE goods categories, 
except tobacco, prescription drugs, motor vehicles, and gasoline and 
other motor fuel. These estimates are also published each month in the 
Personal Income and Outlays press release. If the survey were not 
conducted, BEA would lack comprehensive data from the retail sector. 
This would adversely affect the reliability of the NIPA and GDP. 
Production of the NIPA figures also require inventory figures in order 
to publish the monthly inventory to sales ratios. Additionally, they 
use MRS inventory figures to measure changes in inventories for 
estimates of gross output in the annual Input-Output Accounts tables, 
as well as for computing annual and quarterly GDP-by-industry 
statistics.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses the data as input to 
their Producer Price Indexes and in developing productivity 
measurements. The data are also used for gauging current economic 
trends of the economy. BLS uses the estimates to develop consumer price 
indexes used in inflation and cost of living calculations.
    CEA, other government agencies, and businesses use the survey 
results to formulate and make decisions. CEA reports the retail data, 
one of the principal federal economic indicators, to the President each 
month for awareness on the current picture on the ``state of the 
economy''. In addition, CEA's Macroeconomic Forecaster uses the retail 
sales data, one of the key monthly data releases each month, to keep 
track of real economic growth in the current quarter.
    Policymakers such as the FRB need to have the timeliest estimates 
in order to anticipate economic trends and act accordingly.
    Private businesses use the retail sales and inventories data to 
compute business activity indexes. The private sector also uses retail 
sales as a reliable indicator of consumer activity. In addition, 
businesses use the estimates to measure how they are performing and 
predict future demand for their products.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this

[[Page 22099]]

notice to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

Sheleen Dumas,
PRA Departmental Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-09685 Filed 5-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P