[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3606-3607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00979]


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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 Retail Surveys.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0717.
    Form Number(s): MRTS: SM-44(17)S, SM-44(17)SE, SM-44(17)SS, SM-
44(17)B, SM-44(17)BE, SM-44(17)BS, SM-72(17)S, and SM-20(17)I; MARTS: 
SM-44(17)A, SM-44(17)AE, SM-44(17)AS, and SM-72(17)A.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 13,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 7 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 18,200.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests an extension of the 
Monthly Retail Surveys (MRS). The MRS is comprised of two surveys known 
as the Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) and the Advance Monthly 
Retail Trade Survey (MARTS). The MRS are administered monthly to a 
sample of employer firms (i.e., businesses with paid employees) with 
establishments located in the United States and classified in retail 
trade and/or food services sectors as defined by the North American 
Industry Classification System (NAICS).
    The MRTS provides estimates of monthly retail sales, end-of-month 
merchandise inventories, and quarterly e-commerce sales of retailers in 
the United States. In addition, the survey also provides an estimate of 
monthly sales at food service establishments and drinking places.
    Sales, inventories, and e-commerce data provide a current 
statistical picture of the retail portion of consumer activity. The 
sales and inventories estimate in the MRTS measure current trends of 
economic activity that occur in the United States. The survey estimates 
provide valuable information for economic policy decisions and actions 
by the government and are widely used by private businesses, trade 
organizations, professional associations, and others for market 
research and analysis. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses these 
data in determining the consumption portion of Gross Domestic Product 
(GDP).
    The MARTS, a subsample of MRTS, began in 1953 as a monthly survey 
for activity taking place during the previous month. The MARTS 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 also 
provide an estimate of monthly sales at food service establishments and 
drinking places.
    The estimates produced in the MRS are critical to the accurate 
measurement of total economic activity. The estimates of retail sales 
represent all operating receipts, including receipts from wholesale 
sales made at retail locations and services rendered as part of the 
sale of the goods, by businesses that primarily sell at retail. 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. Also excluded is non-operating income from such services as 
investments and real estate.
    The estimates of merchandise inventories owned by retailers 
represent all merchandise located in retail stores, warehouses, 
offices, or in transit for distribution to retail establishments. The 
estimates of merchandise inventories exclude fixtures and supplies not 
held for sale, as well as merchandise held on consignment owned by 
others. The BEA use inventories data to determine the investment 
portion of the GDP. We publish retail sales and inventories estimates 
based on the NAICS.
    Sales data for select industries are released in the press release 
``Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services,'' 
approximately 15 days after the close of the reference month, which 
also includes more detailed estimates for the prior month. Advance 
inventory estimates for 3 aggregate levels are released in the 
``Advance Economic Indicator Report'' approximately 27 days after the 
close of the reference month and the preliminary estimates for 
inventories data are released in the ``Manufacturing and Trade 
Inventories and Sales'' approximately 40 days after the reference 
month.
    Retail e-commerce sales are estimated from the same sample used to 
estimate preliminary and final U.S. retail sales. For coverage of the 
universe of e-commerce retailers, research was conducted to ensure that 
retail firms selected in the MRTS sample engaged in e-commerce. E-
commerce sales estimates are released quarterly as part of the 
``Quarterly Retail Ecommerce Sales'' report, approximately 50 days 
following the reference period.

[[Page 3607]]

    Below are the retail form numbers along with a description of each 
form.

                                                   MRTS Forms
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              Series                                                 Description
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SM-44(17)S........................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only/WO E-Commerce.
SM-44(17)SE.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only W E-Commerce.
SM-44(17)SS.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only/Screener.
SM-44(17)B........................  Non-Department Store/Sales and Inventory/WO E-Comm.
SM-44(17)BE.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales and Inventory/W E-Comm.
SM-44(17)BS.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales and Inventory/Screener.
SM-72(17)S........................  Food Services/Sales Only/WO E-Commerce.
SM-20(17)I........................  Non-Department and Department Store/Inventory Only.
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                                                   MARTS Forms
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              Series                                                 Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SM-44(17)A........................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only/WO E-Commerce.
SM-44(17)AE.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only W E-Commerce.
SM-44(17)AS.......................  Non-Department Store/Sales Only/Screener.
SM-72(17)A........................  Food Services/Sales Only/WO E-Commerce.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Each MRS form has two versions: One with an ``E'' suffix and one 
with an ``A'' Suffix. The forms are identical, except that those with 
the ``E'' suffix are sent to smaller firms (which we refer to 
internally as ``EINs''), while those with the ``A'' suffix are sent to 
larger firms, which we refer to internally as ``alphas''. Thus, there 
are a total of 24 variants of forms along with their fax counterparts. 
Forms can be found at https://www.census.gov/retail/get_forms.html.
    The U.S. Census Bureau tabulates the collected data to provide, 
with measured reliability, statistics on United States retail sales. 
These estimates are especially valued by data users because of their 
timeliness.
    The sales estimates are used by the BEA, Council of Economic 
Advisers (CEA), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS), and other government agencies, as well as business users in 
formulating economic decisions.
    BEA is the primary Federal user of data collected in the Monthly 
Retail Surveys. BEA uses the information in its preparation of the 
National Income and Products Accounts (NIPA), and its benchmark and 
annual input-output tables. Data on retail sales are used to prepare 
monthly estimates of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) 
component of gross domestic product for all PCE goods categories, 
except tobacco, prescription drugs, motor vehicles, and gasoline and 
other motor fuel. These estimates are also published each month in the 
Personal Income and Outlays press release. If the survey were not 
conducted, BEA would lack comprehensive data from the retail sector. 
This would adversely affect the reliability of the NIPA and GDP. 
Production of the NIPA figures also require inventory figures in order 
to publish the monthly inventory to sales ratios. Additionally, they 
use MRS inventory figures to measure changes in inventories for 
estimates of gross output in the annual Input-Output Accounts tables, 
as well as for computing annual and quarterly GDP-by-industry 
statistics.
    BLS uses the data as input to their Producer Price Indexes and in 
developing productivity measurements. The data are also used for 
gauging current economic trends of the economy. BLS uses the estimates 
to develop consumer price indexes used in inflation and cost of living 
calculations.
    CEA, other government agencies, and businesses use the survey 
results to formulate and make decisions. CEA reports the retail data, 
one of the principal federal economic indicators, to the President each 
month for awareness on the current picture on the ``state of the 
economy''. In addition, CEA's Macroeconomic Forecaster uses the retail 
sales data, one of the key monthly data releases each month, to keep 
track of real economic growth in the current quarter.
    Policymakers such as the FRB need to have the timeliest estimates 
in order to anticipate economic trends and act accordingly.
    Private businesses use the retail sales and inventories data to 
compute business activity indexes. The private sector also uses retail 
sales as a reliable indicator of consumer activity. In addition, 
businesses use the estimates to measure how they are performing and 
predict future demand for their products.
    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. 2020-00979 Filed 1-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P