[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57389-57391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23327]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Monthly Retail 
Surveys

AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted on 
or before December 24, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Thomas Smith, PRA Liaison, 
U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Room 7K250A, Washington, DC 
20233 (or via the internet at [email protected]). You may also submit 
comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2019-0014, to the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received 
are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment period 
has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. All 
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information. You may submit

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attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe 
PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Paul Bucchioni, U.S. Census Bureau, EID HQ-8K181, 
4600 Silver Hill Road, Washington, DC 20233-6500, (301) 763-7125 (or 
via the internet at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request an extension of the current 
Office of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys known as the 
Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) and the Advance Monthly Retail Trade 
Survey (MARTS). The MRTS and MARTS are related collections sharing the 
same initial sample frame and collect data that are published in 
conjunction with each other. Beginning with the previous clearance, 
these two surveys were combined under one control number 0607-0717 and 
are collectively called the Monthly Retail Surveys (MRS).
    The Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) provides estimates of 
monthly retail sales, end-of-month merchandise inventories, and 
quarterly e-commerce sales for firms located in the United States and 
classified in the Retail Trade or Food Services sectors as defined by 
the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
    Estimates produced from the MRTS are based on a probability sample 
of approximately 13,000 firms. The sample design consists of one fixed 
panel where all cases are requested to report sales, e-commerce sales, 
and/or inventories for the prior month. If reporting data for a period 
other than the calendar month, the survey asks for the period's length 
(4 or 5 weeks) and the date on which the period ended. The survey also 
asks for the number of establishments covered by the data provided and 
whether the sales data provided are estimates or more accurate ``book'' 
figures. The sample is drawn approximately every 5 years from the 
Business Register, which contains all Employer Identification Numbers 
(EINs) and listed establishment locations. The sample is updated 
quarterly to reflect employer business ``births'' and ``deaths''; 
adding new employer businesses identified in the Business and 
Professional Classification Survey (SQ-CLASS) and deleting firms and 
EINs when it is determined they are no longer active. Estimates from 
the MRTS are released in three different reports each month. High level 
aggregate estimates for end of month inventories are first released as 
part of the Advance Economic Indicators Report approximately four weeks 
after the close of the reference month. The sales and inventories 
estimates from MRTS are released approximately six weeks after the 
close of the reference month as part of the Monthly Retail Trade report 
and the Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales (MTIS) report, 
which are released on the same day. Additionally, once per quarter, 
data for quarterly e-commerce sales are released approximately 50 days 
after the close of the reference quarter as part of the Quarterly 
Retail E-Commerce Sales report. Currently, there are no planned changes 
for MRTS.
    The Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MARTS) provides an early 
indication of monthly sales for retail trade and food services firms 
located in the United States. It was developed in response to requests 
by government, business, and other users to provide an early indication 
of current retail trade activity in the United States. Retail sales are 
one of the primary measures of consumer demand for both durable and 
non-durable goods. The MARTS survey results are published approximately 
two weeks after the end of the reference month. MARTS provide an OMB-
designated Principal Federal Economic Indicator and the earliest 
available monthly estimates of broad-based retail trade activity. It 
also provides an estimate of monthly sales at food service 
establishments and drinking places.
    The MARTS sample is a sub-sample of companies selected from the 
MRTS. The advance survey sample of about 5,500 companies are selected 
using a stratified sample by industry and size. Some 1,650 firms, 
because of their relatively large effect on the sales of certain 
industry groups, are selected with certainty. The MARTS sample is re-
selected generally at 2\1/2\ to 3-year intervals to ensure it is 
representative of the target population and to redistribute burden for 
small- and medium-sized businesses.
    Similarly to the MRTS sales estimates, advance sales estimates for 
each kind of business are developed by applying a ratio of current-
month to previous-month sales (derived from the advance retail and food 
service sample) to the preliminary estimate of sales for the previous 
month (from the larger monthly sample). Industry estimates are summed 
to derive total retail sales figures.
    The MARTS survey requests sales and e-commerce sales for the month 
just ending. As on the MRTS survey, if firms report data for a period 
other than the calendar month, the survey asks for the period's length 
(4 or 5 weeks) and the date on which the period ended. Also similar to 
MRTS, the survey also asks for the number of establishments covered by 
the data provided and whether the sales data provided are estimates or 
more accurate ``book'' figures. Currently, there are no planned changes 
for MARTS.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses the information 
collected on these surveys to prepare the National Income and Products 
Accounts, to benchmark the annual input-output tables and as critical 
inputs to the calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the National Economic 
Council, and other federal and state governmental agencies as well as 
many private sector entities rely on the timely estimates of retail 
sales when making monetary and economic policy decisions.

II. Method of Collection

    We collect this information primarily by internet. We do collect a 
small portion of the data by mail, FAX, and telephone follow-up.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0717.
    Form Number(s): SM-4417A-A, SM-4417A-E, SM-4417AE-A, SM-4417AE-E, 
SM-4417AS-A, SM-4417AS-E, SM-7217A-A, SM7217A-E, SM-4417S-A, SM-4417SE-
A, SM-4417SSA, SM-7217S-A, SM-7217S-E, SM-4417S-E, SM-4417SE-E, SM-
4417SS-E, SM-4417B-A, SM4417BE-A, SM-4417BS-A, SM-4417B-E, SM-4417BE-E, 
SM-4417BS-E, SM-2017I-A, SM-2017I-E.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Retail and Food Services firms in the United 
States.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: MRTS-13,000; MARTS-5,500.
    Estimated Time per Response: MRTS-7 minutes; MARTS-5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,200. (To eliminate 
duplication, firms that report to the MARTS survey are not required to 
provide sales and ecommerce sales information for MRTS. Therefore, we 
use the MRTS sample size and average burden per response to estimate 
the combined total annual burden for both surveys. The MRTS survey has 
the maximum number of questions for any given survey respondent as well 
as the longest estimated burden (at 7 min)).
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs

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respondents may incur for such things as purchases of specialized 
software or hardware needed to report, or expenditures for accounting 
or records maintenance services required specifically by the 
collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Section 131 and 182.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, 
Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2019-23327 Filed 10-24-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P