[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 52 (Monday, March 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14202-14203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5215]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


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: Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) 
Supplement: 2006-2007 Unfilled Orders Benchmark Survey.
    Form Number(s): MA-3000, MA-3000(I), MA-3000-L1, MA-3000-L2.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0561.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of an expired 
collection.
    Burden Hours: 3,000.
    Number of Respondents: 6,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 30 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and 
Orders (M3) survey collects monthly data on shipments, inventories, new 
orders, and unfilled orders from manufacturing companies. The orders 
and shipments data are used widely and are valuable tools for analysts 
of business cycle conditions, including members of the Council of 
Economic Advisers, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Federal Reserve Board, 
Department of the Treasury, and the business community.
    New orders serve as an indicator of future production commitments 
and the data are direct inputs into the leading economic indicator 
series. New orders, as reported in the monthly survey, are derived by 
adding shipments to the net change in the unfilled orders from the 
previous month. The ratio of unfilled orders to shipments is an 
important indicator of pressure on manufacturing capacity.
    The monthly M3 estimates are based on a relatively small panel of 
domestic manufacturers and reflect primarily the month-to-month changes 
of large companies. There is a clear need for periodic benchmarking of 
the M3 estimates to reflect the entire manufacturing universe. The 
Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) provides annual benchmarks for the 
shipments and inventories, but there is no benchmark for unfilled 
orders. A benchmark survey for unfilled orders was last conducted for 
1999.
    The industries selected for this survey are those which the Census 
Bureau determined to maintain considerable unfilled orders. Due to the 
length of time since the last benchmark survey (8 years), an unfilled 
orders benchmark survey is necessary to ensure future accuracy of the 
new orders data and also to determine which NAICS industries continue 
to maintain unfilled orders.
    Report forms will be mailed to approximately 6,000 companies 
requesting data for 47 of 89 NAICS defense and nondefense industry 
categories for the M3 survey.
    The Census Bureau will use the information provided by this survey 
to develop universe estimates of unfilled orders as of the end of 2006 
and 2007, and then adjust the monthly M3 data on unfilled orders to 
these levels. The benchmarked unfilled orders levels will be used to 
derive estimates of new orders received by manufacturers. New orders 
are derived using the following formula:

NEW ORDERS (current) = SHIPMENTS (current) + UNFILLED ORDERS (current) 
- UNFILLED ORDERS (prior)

    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: One time.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, United States Code, sections 131, 182, 
193, and 224.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed

[[Page 14203]]

information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to Brian Harris-Kojetin, OMB Desk Officer either by fax 
(202-395-7245) or e-mail ([email protected]).

    Dated: March 11, 2008.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-5215 Filed 3-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P