[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 241 (Friday, December 14, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64886-64888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30892]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

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 pre-clearance 
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 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The 
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the 
proposed extension of the ``Producer Price Index Survey.'' A copy of 
the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by 
contacting the individual listed below in the Addresses section of this 
notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section of this notice on or before February 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3255, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone number 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
telephone number 202-691-7628. (See Addresses section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Producer Price Index (PPI), one of the Nation's leading 
economic indicators, is used as a measure of price movements, as an 
indicator of inflationary trends, for inventory valuation, and as a 
measure of purchasing power of the dollar at the primary-market level. 
It is also used for market and economic research and as a basis for 
escalation in long-term contracts and purchase agreements.
    PPI data provide a description of the magnitude and composition of 
price change within the economy, and serve a wide range of governmental 
needs. These monthly indexes are closely followed and are viewed as 
sensitive indicators of the economic environment. Price data are vital 
in helping both the President and Congress set fiscal spending targets. 
Producer prices are monitored by the Federal Reserve Board Open Market 
Committee to help decide monetary policy. Federal policy-makers at the 
Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisors use these 
statistics to help form and evaluate monetary and fiscal measures, and 
to help interpret the general business environment. Furthermore, 
dollar-denominated measures of economic performance, such the Gross 
Domestic Product, require accurate price data in order to convert 
nominal-dollar values to constant-dollar values. Inflation-free 
national income accounting figures are vital to fiscal and monetary 
policy-makers when setting objectives and targets. In addition, it is 
common to find one or more PPIs, alone or in combination with other 
measures, used to escalate the delivered price of goods for government 
purchases.
    In addition to governmental uses, PPI data are used by the private 
sector.

[[Page 64887]]

Private industry uses PPI data for contract escalation. For one 
particular method of tax-related Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) inventory 
accounting, the Internal Revenue Service suggests that firms use PPI 
data for making calculations. Private businesses make extensive use of 
industrial-price data for planning and operating. Price trends are used 
to assess market conditions. Firms commonly compare the prices they pay 
for material inputs and the prices they receive for products that they 
make and sell with changes in similar PPIs.
    Economic researchers and forecasters also use the PPI. Price 
indexes are widely used to probe and measure the interaction of market 
forces. Some examples of research topics that require extensive price 
data include: The identification of varying price elasticities and the 
degree of cost pass-through in the economy, the identification of 
potential lead and lag structures among price changes, and the 
identification of prices which exert major impacts throughout market 
structures. In the end, both policy and business planning are affected 
by the completeness of price trend descriptions.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in 
comments that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Producer Price Index Survey.
    A description of recent and projected improvements meant to improve 
data completeness, increase efficiency, and reduce overall respondent 
burden to the maximum degree possible follows.
    A. Disaggregation--Recent modifications made to disaggregation 
(i.e., item selection procedures) help to better define a publication 
structure that is: (1) Publishable in its entirety, (2) meets user 
needs, (3) continuous, and (4) permits meaningful classification of 
current production. In order to obtain and maintain publishability of 
an entire structure, data are now collected using a method where price-
quotation selection is spread across predetermined product categories 
that correspond to the publication cells for a Standard Industrial 
Classification (SIC). The design of the revised disaggregation method 
nearly guarantees that the PPI will collect enough price quotations to 
populate more lightly weighted cells. More heavily weighted (and 
populated) cells will receive slightly fewer price quotations than 
would have been selected under the previous method. As a result, 
indexes constituting the PPI's publication objectives are much more 
likely to remain published over time. (For a complete description, see 
``Change in PPI Publication Structures for Resampled Industries 
Introduced in January 1997,'' PPI Detailed Report, January 1997.)
    B. Sampling--Recent modifications made to sampling procedures 
permit the PPI to update weights of industry indexes without initiating 
a new set of respondents. This process change is called ``recycling 
without resampling.'' The PPI has also made it operationally feasible 
to augment the sample of price quotations for a single product line 
within an SIC, rather than having to initiate an entirely new set of 
respondents when such needs arise. These capabilities are major 
breakthroughs, since they enable the PPI program to reduce both data-
collection expenses and respondent burden, while permitting efficient 
reallocation of program resources. Volatile, technologically 
sophisticated, and never-before-sampled SICs may now be updated or 
introduced into the PPI in a timelier manner.
    C. Publication--The PPI mission includes a mandate requiring the 
program work toward publication, wherever possible, of output price 
indexes for every four-digit industry defined by the SIC Manual. 
Historically, the PPI had been a family of indexes focusing on the 
mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry sectors. This 
publication mandate has resulted in expansion of coverage into non-
goods producing sectors of the economy. PPI sampling and data-
collection methodology have permitted systematic retrieval of specific 
service-industry classifications, and have resulted in the publication 
of various four-digit SIC aggregate indexes, as well as service-line 
and detailed service-category price indexes. The PPI currently 
publishes about seventy-five industry-based indexes for service-sector 
activities. Over the preceding decade, the PPI has introduced indexes 
encompassing transportation, real estate, health, legal, accounting, 
and many other service-based industries. Industry expansion continues 
on a regular basis, as funding permits. Since 1999, the PPI has 
introduced price indexes for SIC 6311 (Life insurance carriers), SIC 54 
(Food stores), SIC 59 (Retail trade), and SIC 6211 (Security brokers, 
dealers, and investment banking companies).
    D. NAICS Classification--At present, sampling and data collection 
are conducted according to the SIC Manual system of organization. 
However, the PPI survey has begun to make modifications that will 
permit smooth conversion to the North American Industrial 
Classification System (NAICS).
    E. Electronic Data Collection--The vast majority of data collected 
by the BLS is confidential respondent information. The BLS is currently 
developing electronic data collection procedures that will reduce 
respondent burden and increase efficiency. However, procedures must 
exist to safeguard respondent information. Transmission of data by e-
mail presents at least two types of security risks: The data could be 
intercepted and/or altered by unauthorized persons; and the data are 
subject to inadvertent disclosure by the use of incorrect group names 
and accidental forwarding. Complete elimination of e-mail for data 
collection purposes likely would decrease response and is not a 
feasible option. The BLS is pursuing technological solutions to 
increase the security of e-mail transmission. In the interim, however, 
short-term restrictions in e-mail use are needed to reduce the risks of 
disclosing confidential data. Effective November 16, 2001, the BLS 
authorized the use of e-mail for collection of confidential data 
through a pilot test conducted by the BLS National Compensation Survey. 
Policies regarding: (1) Communication of confidential respondent 
information within the BLS, (2) BLS contacts with government agencies 
participating in BLS statistical surveys, and, (3) BLS contacts with 
respondents were also updated. These revised policies permit limited 
use of e-mail in communications pertaining to confidential respondent 
information outside the BLS pilot study being conducted by National 
Compensation Survey. E-mail

[[Page 64888]]

communication between the BLS and respondents containing confidential 
data can now occur if the following conditions are met: (1) It is 
necessary, as a last resort, to obtain a usable response, and the 
transmission contains the fewest data elements necessary. (2) Purely 
logistical information, although it could tend to disclose an 
individual respondent's identification, may be exchanged with 
individual respondents (or potential respondents) using regular 
Internet e-mail if doing so promotes the efficiency of survey 
collection and is acceptable to the respondent. (3) E-mail must only be 
used as a data collection mechanism if it is necessary to obtain 
cooperation from the respondent. (4) No group names are to be used when 
addressing an e-mail message containing confidential data. Whenever 
confidential communications occur, the BLS e-mail must include the 
``BLS Statement to Respondent in the Use of Electronic Data 
transmission,'' which states the inherent risks to information 
confidentiality.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Producer Price Index Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0008.
    Affected Public: Business and other for-profit.

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                                                                                            Average    Estimated
                                           Total                                 Total      time per     total
                 Form                   respondents         Frequency          responses    response    burden
                                                                                           (minutes)    (hours)
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BLS 1810A, A1, B, C, C1, and E........        1,585  Once...................        6,340        120      12,680
BLS 473P..............................       26,250  Monthly................    1,260,000         18     378,000
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    Totals............................       27,835  .......................    1,266,340  .........     390,680
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    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 390,680 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    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 information collection request; they also will become a 
matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 7th day of December, 2001.
Jesus Salinas,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 01-30892 Filed 12-13-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P