[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 18 (Friday, January 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7527-7528]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01936]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Quarterly Services Survey

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on August 20, 2020 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Quarterly Services Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0907.
    Form Number(s): QSS-1A, QSS-1E, QSS-1PA, QSS-1PE, QSS-2A, QSS-2E, 
QSS-3A, QSS-3E, QSS-3SA, QSS-3SE, QSS-5A, QSS-5E, QSS-4A, QSS-4E, QSS-
4FA, QSS-4FE, QSS-4SA, QSS-4SE.
    Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Number of Respondents: 22,500.
    Average Hours per Response: 10 minutes: QSS-1A, QSS-1E, QSS-1PA, 
QSS-1PE, QSS-2A, QSS-2E, QSS-3A, QSS-3E, QSS-3SA, QSS-3SE, QSS-5A, QSS-
5E. 15 minutes: QSS-4A, QSS-4E, QSS-4FA, QSS-4FE, QSS-4SA, QSS-4SE.
    Burden Hours: 19,300.
    Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests an extension, 
without change of the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). In the 1980s, it 
was determined that the service economy, despite its growing importance 
and share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was not adequately covered 
by the existing federal statistical programs. At the time, the only 
services data available came from the Service Annual Survey (SAS) and 
the quinquennial Economic Census, therefore the decision was made to 
create a new principal economic indicator designed to expand upon the 
Census Bureau's existing annual survey. The QSS was first released in 
2004, making it the first new U.S. federal government economic 
indicator in 30 years. The QSS is now a major source for the 
development of quarterly GDP and an indicator of short-term economic 
change.
    The initial scope of the QSS was driven primarily by the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) priorities and what the budget initiative would 
allow. The goal was to begin covering the most dynamic sectors of the 
service economy for which BEA had little to no alternate source data. 
In the wake of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, it was clear that 
information services and high-tech industries needed to be a priority 
as BEA experienced major revisions to their GDP estimates as annual 
data came in later. So, at the time it was launched, QSS produced 
estimates for just three North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS) sectors (51, 54, and 56).
    Shortly after the Financial Crisis in 2007-2008, QSS received 
approval to expand the scope of the survey to match that of the 
Economic Census of Services. A major part of this expansion would 
provide for tracking of the Financial sector which, of course, was now 
in the spotlight. Between 2009 and 2010, QSS underwent a multi-phased 
expansion, increasing the total coverage from three to eleven NAICS 
sectors.
    QSS expanded yet again in 2012 to cover the Accommodation subsector 
which was the only remaining service industry with no sub-annual 
coverage.
    We currently publish estimates based on the 2012 NAICS. The QSS 
covers all or parts of the following NAICS sectors: Utilities 
(excluding government owned); Transportation and warehousing (except 
rail transportation and postal) services; Information; Finance and 
insurance (except funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles); Real 
estate and rental and leasing; Professional, scientific, and technical 
services; Administrative and support and waste management and 
remediation services; Educational services (except elementary and 
secondary schools, junior colleges, and colleges, universities, and 
professional schools); Health care and social assistance; Arts, 
entertainment, and recreation; Accommodation; and Other services 
(except public administration). See Section 19 (NAICS Codes Affected) 
for a list of all of the QSS industries. The QSS provides the most 
current official measures of total revenue and percentage of revenue by 
class of customer (for selected industries) on a quarterly basis. In 
addition, the QSS provides the most current official quarterly measure 
of total expenses from tax-exempt firms in industries that have a large 
not-for-profit component. All

[[Page 7528]]

respondent data are received by mail, telephone, or internet reporting.
    The total revenue estimates produced from the QSS provide current 
trends of economic activity in the service industry in the United 
States from service providers with paid employees.
    In addition to revenue, we also collect total expenses from tax-
exempt firms in industries that have a large not-for-profit component. 
Expenses provide a better measure of the economic activity of these 
firms. Expense estimates produced by the QSS, in addition to inpatient 
days and discharges for the hospital industry, are used by the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to project and study hospital 
regulation, Medicare payment adequacy, and other related projects. For 
select industries in the Arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, 
the survey produces estimates of admissions revenue.
    Beginning with the release of 2016 fourth quarter estimates on 
February 17, 2017, the first Advance Quarterly Services Report was 
released in an effort to meet data users' needs for more timely data. 
Published approximately 50 days following the end of the quarter, the 
Advance Quarterly Services Report contains a snapshot of quarterly 
estimates of revenue for selected sectors, subsectors, and industries 
on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Our research found that these 
selected levels were good predictors of the estimates published in the 
full quarterly services report.
    Beginning with the release of 2019 first quarter estimates on May 
17, 2019, the Advance Quarterly Services Report includes a seasonally 
adjusted estimate for the Selected Services Total. Additionally, with 
the release of 2019 fourth quarter estimates on March 12, 2020, the 
Quarterly Services Report now includes 100 seasonally adjusted series. 
Seasonal adjustment is the process of estimating and removing seasonal 
effects from a time series in order to better reveal certain non-
seasonal features. Many data users prefer seasonally adjusted data 
because they want to see those characteristics that seasonal movements 
tend to mask, especially changes in the direction of the series.
    The notice in Federal Register on August 20, 2020, Vol. 85, No. 
162, pages 51406-51408) announcing our plans to submit this request 
included information on the possible upcoming collection of a new 
module of business expectation. At this time, research and testing for 
an uncertainty pilot collection is still underway; once any concrete 
timeline is determined, a request for this additional module will be 
submitted.
    Reliable measures of economic activity are essential to an 
objective assessment of the need for, and impact of, a wide range of 
public policy decisions. The QSS supports these measures by providing 
the latest estimates of service industry output on a quarterly basis.
    Currently, the U.S. Census Bureau collects, tabulates, and 
publishes estimates to provide, with measurable reliability, statistics 
on domestic service total revenue, total expenses, and percentage of 
revenue by class of customer for select service providers. In addition, 
the QSS produces estimates for inpatient days and discharges for 
hospitals.
    The BEA is the primary Federal user of QSS results. The BEA 
utilizes the QSS estimates to make improvements to the national 
accounts for service industries. In the National Income and Product 
Accounts (NIPA), the QSS estimates allow more accurate estimates of 
both Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and private fixed 
investment. For example, published revisions to the quarterly NIPA 
estimates are often the result of incorporation of the latest source 
data from the QSS. Revenue estimates from the QSS are also used to 
produce estimates of gross output by industry that allow BEA to produce 
a much earlier release of the gross domestic product by industry 
estimates.
    Estimates produced from the QSS are used by the BEA as a component 
of quarterly GDP estimates. The estimates also provide the Federal 
Reserve Board (FRB) and Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) with timely 
information on current economic performance. All estimates collected 
from this survey are used extensively by various government agencies 
and departments on economic policy decisions; private businesses; trade 
organizations; professional associations; academia; and other various 
business research and analysis organizations.
    The CMS uses the QSS estimates to develop hospital spending 
estimates in the National Health Expenditure Accounts. In addition, the 
QSS estimates improve their ability to analyze changes in spending 
trends for hospitals and other healthcare services. The CMS also uses 
the estimates in its ten-year health spending forecast estimates and in 
studies related to Medicare policy and trends.
    The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) utilizes the QSS 
estimates to assess payment adequacy in the current Medicare program.
    The FRB and the CEA use the QSS information to better assess 
current economic performance. In addition, other government agencies, 
businesses, and investors use the QSS estimates for market research, 
industry growth, business planning and forecasting.
    Private sector data users and other government agencies both 
benefit from an earlier release of U.S. services data. The Advance 
Quarterly Services Report allows policymakers and private data users to 
make data-driven decisions sooner due to this high-level snapshot of 
economic data. In addition, the release also allows the BEA to 
incorporate services data into the second estimate of the GDP. Prior to 
the implementation of the Advance Quarterly Services Report, Quarterly 
Services Survey estimates were incorporated in the third estimate of 
GDP.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    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 the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0607-0907.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-01936 Filed 1-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P