[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1410-1411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-578]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Information Collection Request Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations; Consumer Price Index Commodities and 
Services Survey

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be 
provided in the desired format, reporting burden is minimized, 
reporting forms are clearly understood, and the impact of collection 
requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed revision of the ``Consumer Price Index Commodities and 
Services Survey.''

[[Page 1411]]

    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the address 
section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 19, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Karin G. Kurz, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3255, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington DC 20212.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Kurz on 202--606-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Federal law requires BLS, under the direction of the Secretary of 
Labor, to collect, collate, and report full and complete statistics of 
the conditions of labor and the products and distribution of the 
products of the same. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is one of these 
statistics, and the collection of data from a wide spectrum of retail 
establishments and government agencies is essential for the timely and 
accurate calculation of the Commodities and Services component of the 
CPI.
    The CPI is the only index compiled by the U.S. Government that is 
designed to measure changes in the purchasing power of the urban 
consumer's dollar. The CPI is a measure of the average change in prices 
paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and 
services.
    The CPI is used most widely as a measure of inflation, and serves 
as an indicator of the effectiveness of government economic policy. It 
is also used as a deflator of other economic series, that is, to adjust 
other series for price changes and to translate these series into 
inflation-free dollars. A third major use of the CPI is to adjust 
income payments. About 2.8 million workers are covered by collective 
bargaining contracts which provide for increases in wage rates based on 
increases in the CPI.

II. Current Actions

    The continuation of the collection of prices for the CPI is 
essential since the CPI is the nation's chief source of information on 
retail price changes. If the information on prices of commodities and 
services were not collected, Federal fiscal and monetary polices would 
be hampered due to the lack of information on price changes in a major 
sector of the U.S. economy, and estimates of the real value of the 
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could not be made. The consequences for 
both the Federal and private sectors would be far-reaching and would 
have serious repercussions of Federal government policy and 
institutions.
    The transient increase in the number of respondents is due to 
recurrent replacement in item and geographic sampling. With the 1998 
CPI revision, substantial changes are being made to the CPI item 
classification structure. New pricing areas will be sampled to support 
this new item structure and the overlapping geographic areas will have 
new samples drawn wherever it is necessary in order to support this new 
structure.
    Currently, data for the CPI are collected by CPI field staff in 
assigned retail outlets. The field staff record the data on schedules 
and mail the data to Washington, D.C. for processing. A key element in 
the 1998 CPI revision is the conversion of all data collection and 
transmission to electronic systems. A fully-implemented Computer-
Assisted Data Collection (CADC) system for the CPI will result in 
significant advantages by increasing productivity and improving the 
overall quality of the CPI.
    Electronic data collection and transmission will provide long-term 
savings through a major reduction of mail, paper, and printing costs. 
Electronic systems will provide the opportunity to reduce data capture, 
survey logistics management, and review staffs.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Consumer Price Index Commodities and Services Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0039.
    Frequency: Semi-annually.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 52,104.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 16 minutes.
    Total Burden Hours: 91,487 hours.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the ICR; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 16th day of January, 1996.
Peter T. Spolarich,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 96-578 Filed 1-8-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-M