[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48195-48196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16191]


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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 
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. Currently, the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed 
revision of the ``Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program.'' 
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 below on or before October 17, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
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 BLS has been charged by Congress (29 U.S.C. Section 1 and 2) 
with the responsibility of collecting and publishing monthly 
information on employment, the average wage received, and the hours 
worked by area and industry. The process for developing residency-based 
employment and unemployment estimates is a cooperative Federal-State 
program which uses employment and unemployment inputs available in 
State Workforce Agencies.
    The labor force estimates developed and issued in this program are 
used for economic analysis and as a tool in the implementation of 
Federal economic policy in such areas as employment and economic 
development under the Workforce Investment Act and the Public Works and 
Economic Development Act, among others.
    The estimates also are used in economic analysis by public agencies 
and private industry, and for State and area funding allocations and 
eligibility determinations according to legal and administrative 
requirements. Implementation of current policy and legislative 
authorities could not be accomplished without collection of the data.
    The reports and manual covered by this request are integral parts 
of the LAUS program insofar as they insure and/or measure the 
timeliness, quality, consistency, and adherence to program directions 
of the LAUS estimates and related research.

II. Current Action

    The BLS is revising the information collection request that makes 
up the LAUS program. All aspects of the program are automated. All data 
are entered directly into BLS-provided systems.
    The BLS, as part of its responsibility to develop concepts and 
methods by which States prepare estimates under the LAUS program, 
developed a manual for use by the States. The manual explains the 
conceptual framework for the State and area estimates of employment and 
unemployment, specifies the procedures to be used,

[[Page 48196]]

provides input information, and discusses the theoretical and empirical 
basis for each procedure. This manual is updated on a regular schedule. 
The LAUS program implemented a major program redesign in January 2005. 
The Redesign was announced in the Federal Register on November 8, 2004.
    The increase in the number of responses from the last collection is 
due to the increase in the number of areas covered by the program.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program.
    OMB Number: 1220-0017.
    Affected Public: State government.
    Total Respondents: 52.
    Frequency: Monthly and Annually.
    Total Responses: 95,069.
    Average Time Per Response: 1.50 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 142,298 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.

III. 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.
    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 9th day of August, 2005.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 05-16191 Filed 8-15-05; 8:45 am]
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