[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 157 (Friday, August 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48805-48806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20049]


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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-0A, QSS-0E, QSS-1A, QSS-1E, QSS-1PA, QSS-1PE, 
QSS-2A, QSS-2E, QSS-3A, QSS-3E, QSS-3SA, QSS-3SE, QSS-5A, QSS-5E, QSS-
6A, QSS-6E, QSS-7A, QSS-7E, QSS-8A, QSS-8E, QSS-9A, QSS-9E, QSS-4A, 
QSS-4E, QSS-4SA, QSS-4SE, QSS4fA, QSS4fE.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 23,500.
    Average Hours per Response: 13.34 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 20,900.
    Needs and Uses: As far back as the 1980s, there was a realization 
that despite its growing importance and share of Gross Domestic Product 
(GDP), the service economy was not adequately covered by the existing 
federal statistics programs. Before the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) 
economic indicator existed for the service sector, the only data 
available were from the Service Annual Survey (SAS) and the five-year 
Economic Censuses. The decision was made to expand the scope of the 
Census Bureau's existing annual survey and to create a new principal 
economic indicator to cover services. Based on this effort, the QSS is 
now a major source for the development of quarterly GDP and an 
indicator of short-term economic change.
    With the first release of the QSS in 2004, it became the first new 
U.S. federal government economic indicator in 30 years. The initial 
scope of the QSS was driven primarily by the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis (BEA) priorities and what the budget initiative would allow. 
The goal was to begin covering the most dynamic sectors of the service 
economy for which BEA had little to no alternate source data. In the 
wake of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, it was clear that 
information services and high-tech industries needed to be a priority 
as BEA experienced major revisions to their GDP estimates as annual 
data came in later. So, at the time it was launched, QSS produced 
estimates for just 3 North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS) sectors (51, 54, and 56) representing roughly 15% of GDP.
    Shortly after the Financial Crisis in 2007-2008, QSS received 
approval to expand the scope of the survey to match that of the 
Economic Census of Services. A major part of this expansion would 
provide for tracking of the Financial sector which, of course, was now 
in the spotlight. Between 2009 and 2010, QSS underwent a multi-phased 
expansion, increasing the total coverage from 3 to 11 NAICS sectors 
which together account for over 50 percent of GDP.
    QSS expanded yet again in 2012 to cover the Accommodation subsector 
which was the only remaining service industry with no sub-annual 
coverage.
    We currently publish estimates based on the 2007 NAICS. The QSS 
covers 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

[[Page 48806]]

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.
    The total revenue estimates produced from the QSS provide current 
trends of economic activity in the service industry 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.
    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 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 (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. The CMS also 
uses the estimates in its 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, United States Code, sections 131 and 
182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: August 11, 2015.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-20049 Filed 8-13-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P