[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2384-2385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00461]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


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.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0190.
    Form Number(s): SM4217-A, SM4217-E.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 4,200.
    Average Hours per Response: 7 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 5,880.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests a three-year 
extension of the Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey (MWTS). The MWTS 
canvasses firms primarily engaged in merchant wholesale trade that are 
located in the United States, excluding manufacturers' sales branches 
and offices (MSBOs). This survey provides the only continuous measure 
of monthly wholesale sales, end-of-month inventories, and inventories-
to-sales ratios. The sales and inventories estimates produced from the 
MWTS provide current trends of economic

[[Page 2385]]

activity by kind of business for the United States. Also, the estimates 
compiled from this survey provide valuable information for economic 
policy decisions by the government and are widely used by private 
businesses, trade organizations, professional associations, and other 
business research and analysis organizations.
    Estimates from the MWTS 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. 
Second, the full Monthly Wholesale Trade Report containing both sales 
and inventories estimates is released. Lastly, high level sales and 
inventories estimates from the MWTS are also released as part of the 
Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales (MTIS) report.
    As one of the Census Bureau's principal economic indicators, the 
estimates produced by the MWTS are critical to the accurate measurement 
of total economic activity of the United States. The estimates of sales 
made by wholesale locations represent only merchant wholesalers, 
excluding MSBOs, who typically take title to goods bought for resale 
and sell to other businesses. The sales estimates include sales made on 
credit as well as on a cash basis, but exclude receipts from sales 
taxes and interest charges from credit sales.
    The estimates of inventories represent all merchandise held in 
wholesale locations, warehouses, and offices, as well as goods held by 
others for sale on consignment or in transit for distribution to 
wholesale establishments. The estimates of inventories exclude fixtures 
and supplies not for resale, as well as merchandise held on 
consignment, which are owned by others. Inventories are an important 
component in the Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) calculation of the 
investment portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
    The Census Bureau publishes wholesale sales and inventories 
estimates based on the North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS), which has been widely adopted throughout both the public and 
private sectors.
    The Census Bureau tabulates the collected data to provide, with 
measurable reliability, statistics on sales, end-of-month inventories, 
and inventories-to-sales ratios for merchant wholesalers, excluding 
MSBOs.
    The BEA is the primary Federal user of data collected in the MWTS. 
The BEA uses estimates from this survey to prepare the national income 
and product accounts (NIPA), input-output accounts (I-O), and gross 
domestic product (GDP) by industry. End-of-month inventories are used 
to prepare the change in private inventories component of GDP. The BEA 
also uses the Advance Economic Indicators Report to improve the 
inventory valuation adjustments applied to estimates of the Advance 
Gross Domestic Product. Sales are used to prepare estimates of real 
inventories-to-sales ratios in the NIPAs, extrapolate proprietors' 
income for wholesalers (until tax return data become available) in the 
NIPAs, and extrapolate annual current-dollar gross output for the most 
recent year in annual I-O tables, GDP-by-industry, and advance GDP-by-
industry estimates.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the data as input to its 
Producer Price Indexes and in developing productivity measurements. 
Private businesses use the wholesale sales and inventories data in 
computing business activity indexes. Other government agencies and 
businesses use this information for market research, product 
development, and business planning to gauge the current trends of the 
economy.
    Affected Public: Business and other for-profit.
    Frequency: Monthly.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., 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.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-00461 Filed 1-14-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P