[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 113 (Thursday, June 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35665-35667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12629]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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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. 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 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 10, 2020.

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 email to [email protected].

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

[[Page 35666]]

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 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 
revision of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The Quarterly Interview 
and the Diary.
    The continuing CE Surveys provide a constant measurement of changes 
in consumer expenditure patterns for economic analysis and obtain data 
for future CPI revisions.
    In the CEQ, CE is seeking clearance to make the following changes: 
A question will be added on the number of members covered by Tricare; 
the term Keoghs will be removed from the question on retirement 
accounts and replaced with more commonly used terms; Virginia will be 
added to the drop down list of states on the Medicaid questions; e-
scooters will be added as an example to bike-share; audio and video 
expenditure item codes will be consolidated; school books will be 
separated from school supplies and equipment item codes; several 
detailed clothing items will be converted to global questions and the 
remaining clothing item codes will be reorganized.
    The CEQ added questions regarding stimulus payments paid by the 
Federal government under OMB clearance number 1220-0196 as an emergency 
clearance request. This expiration on this clearance expires on 
November 30, 2020. CE plans to continue asking these questions through 
December of 2020 and seeks clearance with this request to retain until 
this date. If it is determined the questions are needed beyond December 
a nonsubstantive change request will be submitted to retain them for a 
longer period. The CED uses both a CAPI instrument and the paper Diary 
CE-801, Record of Your Daily Expenses. In the CED CAPI instruments, the 
term Keoghs will be removed from the question on retirement accounts 
and replaced with more commonly used terms. In the Diary, in order to 
accommodate CPI's need for point of purchase collection, a column will 
be added to the clothing section to collect the store name or website 
where the item was purchased. Additionally, in order to avoid 
anticipated data collection issues, minor changes will be made to the 
sample.
    Lastly, to limit exposure of staff and respondents in response to 
the coronavirus pandemic, procedures for the CEQ and CED will be 
modified on an as needed basis. In CED, these modifications will 
include emailing a link to a Diary form, telephone transcription of 
expenditures from the Diary, and the availability of an online Diary. 
In CEQ, these modifications will include telephone interiews in lieu of 
in-person interviews.
    These letters explain the nature of the information the BLS wants 
to collect and the uses of the CEQ or the CED data, as appropriate; 
informs the respondents of the confidential treatment of all 
identifying information they provide; requests the respondents' 
participation in the survey; describes the survey's compliance with the 
relevant provisions of the Privacy Act and the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) disclosure requirements; and provide a link to the address 
of the respondent's informational web page. The advance letters for the 
CEQ will be updated to reflect changes in the estimated time to 
complete the interview with the removal of the clothing section. Each 
of the advance letters and several of the brochures in the portfolio 
are available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, 
Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Polish.
    For both CEQ and CED, additional wording will be added to the CAPI 
instruments regarding receipt of the advance letter in order to ensure 
communication of the confidentiality and Paperwork Reduction Act 
statements to respondents who may not have received the advanced letter 
due to disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
    A full list of the proposed changes to the Quarterly Interview 
Survey and Diary Survey are available upon request.

III. 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.
    Title of Collection: The Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The 
Quarterly Interview and the Diary.
    OMB Number: 1220-0050.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

[[Page 35667]]



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                                                                                   Average time
              Form                     Total         Frequency         Total       per response      Estimated
                                    respondents                      responses       (minutes)     total burden
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CEQ--Interview..................           6,015               4          24,060              67          26,867
CEQ--Reinterview................           2,887               1           2,887              10             481
CED--Diary (record-keeping).....           7,535               2          15,070              70          17,582
CED--Diary (Interview)..........           7,535             2.3          17,332              19           5,488
CED--Diary (Reinterview)........           1,507               1           1,507              10             251
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    Totals......................  ..............  ..............          60,856  ..............          50,669
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    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 5th day of June 2020.
Mark Staniorski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2020-12629 Filed 6-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P