[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 126 (Thursday, June 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42731-42733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15512]


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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 revision of the ``The Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The 
Quarterly Interview and the Diary.'' 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 August 29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also 
may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free 
number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, 
at 202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES 
section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Consumer Expenditure (CE) Surveys collect data on consumer 
expenditures, demographic information, and related data needed by the 
Consumer Price Index (CPI) and other public and private data users. The 
continuing surveys provide a constant measurement of changes in 
consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis and to obtain data 
for future CPI revisions. The CE Surveys have been ongoing since 1979.
    The data from the CE Surveys are used (1) for CPI revisions, (2) to 
provide a continuous flow of data on income and expenditure patterns 
for use in economic analysis and policy formulation, and (3) to provide 
a flexible consumer survey vehicle that is available for use by other 
Federal Government agencies. Public and private users of price 
statistics, including Congress and the economic policymaking agencies 
of the Executive branch, rely on data collected in the CPI in their 
day-to-day activities. Hence, data users and policymakers widely accept 
the need to improve the process used for revising the CPI. If the CE 
Surveys were not conducted on a continuing basis, current information 
necessary for more timely, as well as more accurate, updating of the 
CPI would not be available. In addition, data would not be available to 
respond to the continuing demand from the public and

[[Page 42732]]

private sectors for current information on consumer spending.
    In the Quarterly Interview Survey, each consumer unit (CU) in the 
sample is interviewed every three months over four calendar quarters. 
The sample for each quarter is divided into three panels, with CUs 
being interviewed every three months in the same panel of every 
quarter. The Quarterly Interview Survey is designed to collect data on 
the types of expenditures that respondents can be expected to recall 
for a period of three months or longer. In general the expenses 
reported in the Interview Survey are either relatively large, such as 
property, automobiles, or major appliances, or are expenses which occur 
on a fairly regular basis, such as rent, utility bills, or insurance 
premiums.
    The Diary (or recordkeeping) Survey is completed at home by the 
respondent family for two consecutive one-week periods. The primary 
objective of the Diary Survey is to obtain expenditure data on small, 
frequently purchased items which normally are difficult to recall over 
longer periods of time.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
proposed revision of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The Quarterly 
Interview and the Diary.
    Additionally, as part of an ongoing effort to improve data quality, 
maintain or increase response rates, and reduce data collection costs, 
CE is making the below changes.
    Three major changes will be implemented in the Diary Survey (CED). 
First, in an effort to alleviate burden and slow or reverse the decline 
in response rates, CE has developed an alternative version of the paper 
diary form. The new version consolidates the four main diary categories 
onto two, facing, diary pages so that all expenses for a single day can 
be entered without flipping pages. An effort was also made to reduce 
the amount of instructions and examples so that respondents are not 
confused or intimidated.
    Second, the earliest placement date and last placement date 
restrictions for the Diary will be removed allowing Field 
Representatives to place the diary on any day within the collection 
month. Data analysis shows that the monthly expenditures cycles that 
the earliest and last placement dates were put in place to capture are 
not statistically significant and were most likely the result of normal 
random fluctuations in the data that are expected in the survey's data 
rather than actual expenditure cycles.
    Third, in order to simplify procedures and reduce costs, all 
Diaries will be double placed. With this new procedure, Field 
Representatives (FRs) will have the entire month to place the diaries 
instead of 7 days. This should drastically reduce the number of diaries 
CE loses to the non-interview Type A--Placed Too Late outcome code. As 
a result, the second Field Representative interview to pick up the Week 
1 Diary and place the Week 2 Diary will be eliminated. Data analysis 
shows that double placements do not appear to have any negative effects 
on the Diary Survey. Approximately 27% of eligible cases and 33% of 
completed diaries are currently double placed.
    Additionally, CE will delete several tax questions that were 
deleted from CEQ in 2015 as data received from the IRS have enabled CE 
to calculate this data rather than collect it.
    Several changes will also be implemented in CEQ in order to keep 
the CEQ questionnaire current. These changes include changes to 
question wording, deletions, additions, and section restructurings. 
Questions were added for solar panels, internet away from home charges, 
and alternative fuels such as electrical vehicle charging; health 
insurance questions were revamped to make them clearer and to align 
with the structure of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS); 
questions were combined and reworded such as streaming videos to be 
combined with rental of movies and combining book purchases with book 
club subscriptions; questions were deleted on purchases occurring in 
the current month and on purchases of apps, games, and ringtones; 
questions on refinancing of a property and on construction and repair 
of property were streamlined.
    The Bureau of the Census conducts the CE Surveys for the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS) in support of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 
program. The continuing CE Surveys provide a constant measurement of 
changes in consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis, and 
obtain data for future CPI revisions. The CPI program anticipates the 
need for CE surveys to collect outlet information to serve as outlet 
frames for most commodities and services (C&S) items as issues with 
TPOPS collection have resulted in prohibitively high costs. To support 
this objective, CE will test the addition of outlet questions in 
several sections of the CEQ survey instrument. In all sections except 
vehicles, CE will add these questions to the fourth interview only; 
because vehicle purchases are not reported often, questions on the 
purchase location for vehicles will be asked in all four interviews. 
Finally, the Incentives/Outlets Test study questions will be deleted.
    A full list of the proposed changes to the Quarterly Interview 
Survey and Diary Survey are available upon request.
    In addition to the Incentives/Outlets test, the Consumer 
Expenditure program is planning several tests over the next several 
years in an effort to improve the CE surveys in the areas of both data 
quality and respondent burden.

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.
     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.
    Type of Review: Revision, of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: The Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The Quarterly Interview 
and the Diary.
    OMB Number: 1220-0050.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

[[Page 42733]]



                       Total Response Burden for the Quarterly Interview and Diary Surveys
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                                                                                                    Incentives/
                                                     Quarterly         Diary           Total       outlets test
                                                                                                      in 2017
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Number of responses.............................          29,200          27,780          56,980
Total burden hours..............................          28,974          28,780          57,754              20
    Total burden hours including Incentives/      ..............  ..............  ..............          57,774
     Outlets Test...............................
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    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 24th day of June 2016.
Kimberley Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2016-15512 Filed 6-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-24-P