[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 111 (Friday, June 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34011-34012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13927]


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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: Quarterly Services Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0907.
    Form Number(s): QSS-0(A), QSS-0(E), QSS-1(A), QSS-1(E), QSS-1P(A), 
QSS-1P(E), QSS-2(A), QSS-2(E), QSS-3(A), QSS-3(E), QSS-4(A), QSS-4(E), 
QSS-4F(A), QSS-4F(E), QSS-5(A), QSS-5(E), QSS-6(A), QSS-6(E), QSS-7(A), 
QSS-7(E), QSS-8(A), QSS-8(E), QSS-9(A), QSS-9(E),.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Burden Hours: 20,900.
    Number of Respondents: 23,500.
    Average Hours per Response: 13 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests a revision of the 
current OMB approval of the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). Beginning 
in March 2013, with the introduction of a new sample, the QSS will 
cover all or parts of the following NAICS sectors: Utilities (excluding 
government owned); Transportation and warehousing (except rail 
transportation and postal) services; Information; Finance and insurance 
(except funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles); Real estate and 
rental and leasing; Professional, scientific, and technical services; 
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation 
services; Educational services (except elementary and secondary 
schools, junior colleges, and colleges, universities, and professional 
schools); Health care and social assistance; Arts, entertainment, and 
recreation; Accommodation; and Other services (except public 
administration). The QSS provides the most current reliable measures of 
total revenue and percentage of revenue by class of customer (for 
selected industries) on a quarterly basis. In addition, the QSS 
provides the only current quarterly measure of total expenses from tax-
exempt firms in industries that have a large not-for-profit component. 
All respondent data are received by mail, facsimile, telephone, or 
Internet reporting.
    Before the QSS economic indicator existed for the service sector, 
which accounts for about 53 percent of all economic activity, the only 
data available were from the Service Annual Survey (SAS) and the five-
year Economic Censuses. The QSS was developed to address and provide 
more up-to-date estimates of services output. Based on this effort, the 
QSS is a major source for the development of quarterly Gross Domestic 
Product (GDP) and an indicator of short-term economic change.
    The total revenue estimates produced from the QSS provide current 
trends of economic service industry activity in the United States from 
service providers with paid employees.
    In addition to revenue, we also collect total expenses from tax-
exempt firms in industries that have a large not-for-profit component. 
Expenses provide a better measure of the economic activity of these 
firms. Expense estimates produced by the QSS, in addition to inpatient 
days and discharges for the hospital industry, are used by the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to project and study hospital 
regulation, Medicare payment adequacy, and other related projects. For 
select industries in the Arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, 
the survey produces estimates of admissions revenue.
    Beginning in March 2013, with the introduction of a new QSS sample, 
the QSS plans to provide estimates of revenue for the Accommodation 
subsector and estimates for interest income, loan fees, fees and 
commissions, financial planning and investment management, and net 
gains and losses from brokering for select finance and insurance 
industries.
    We currently publish estimates based on the 2002 North American 
Industry Classification System (NAICS). With the introduction of the 
new QSS sample, we will publish estimates based on the 2007 NAICS. We 
will continue to publish no later than 75 days after the end of each 
calendar quarter.
    Reliable measures of economic activity are essential to an 
objective assessment of the need for, and impact of, a wide range of 
public policy decisions. The QSS supports these measures by providing 
the latest estimates of service industry output on a quarterly basis.
    Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau collects, tabulates, and 
publishes estimates to provide, with measurable reliability, statistics 
on domestic service total revenue, total expenses, and percentage of 
revenue by class of customer for select service providers. In addition, 
the QSS produces estimates for inpatient days and discharges for 
hospitals. In the future, QSS may produce breakdowns of revenue from 
financial firms. This depends on the quality and amount of data 
received as well as its reliability and accuracy.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is the primary Federal user 
of QSS results. The BEA utilizes the QSS estimates to make improvements 
to the national accounts for service industries. In the National Income 
and Product Accounts (NIPA), the QSS estimates allow more accurate 
estimates of both Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and private 
fixed investment. For example, recently published revisions to the 
quarterly NIPA estimates resulted from the incorporation of new source 
data from the QSS. Revenue estimates from the QSS are also used to 
produce estimates of gross output by industry that allow BEA to produce 
a much earlier release of the gross domestic product by industry 
estimates.
    Estimates produced from the QSS are used by the BEA as a component 
of quarterly GDP estimates. The estimates also provide the Federal 
Reserve Board

[[Page 34012]]

(FRB) and Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) with timely information on 
current economic performance. All estimates collected from this survey 
are used extensively by various government agencies and departments on 
economic policy decisions; private businesses; trade organizations; 
professional associations; academia; and other various business 
research and analysis organizations.
    The CMS uses the QSS estimates to develop hospital spending 
estimates in the National Accounts. In addition, the QSS estimates 
improve their ability to analyze hospital spending trends. They also 
use the estimates in their healthcare indicator analysis publication; 
ten-year health spending forecast estimates; and studies in hospital 
regulation and Medicare policy, procedures, and trends.
    The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) utilizes the QSS 
estimates to assess payment adequacy in the current Medicare program.
    The FRB and the CEA use the QSS information to better assess 
current economic performance. In addition, other government agencies, 
businesses, and investors use the QSS estimates for market research, 
industry growth, business planning and forecasting.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Section 182.
    OMB Desk Officer: Brian Harris-Kojetin, (202) 395-7314.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Jennifer Jessup, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0336, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 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 email ([email protected]).

    Dated: June 5, 2012.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-13927 Filed 6-7-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P