[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3841-3843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01381]


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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 proposed revision of the ``The Consumer 
Expenditure Surveys: The Quarterly Interview and the Diary.'' A copy of 
the proposed information collection request 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 March 28, 2022.

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 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 
proposed revision of the Consumer Expenditure Surveys: The Quarterly 
Interview (CEQ) and the Diary (CED).
    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 below changes.
    CE will add point of purchase questions for electrical vehicle 
charging including the location (street intersection or location such 
as the name of the shopping center), the city, state, company, and 
method of payment where electric charging services were obtained. CE 
will also implement Computer Assisted Recording Instrument (CARI) 
technology into CE for quality control and research purposes. CARI is a 
tool available during data collection to capture audio along with 
response data. With the respondent's consent, a portion of each 
interview is recorded unobtrusively. The respondent's consent will be 
obtained through a consent request question asking for the respondent's 
permission to record the interview for quality control purposes. 
Lastly, the questions on armed forces will be asked prior to the 
question on veteran status and individuals who indicate they are in the 
armed forces will no longer be asked if they are a veteran.
    The CED uses both a CAPI instrument and the paper Diary CE-801, 
Record of Your Daily Expenses. CE plans to update the Diary CE-801 
paper Diary as well as implement an online version for non-emergency 
data collection.
    The CED Diary collects information on CU expenditures by asking 
each selected sample unit to keep two one-week diaries of all 
expenditures. The Diary is necessary to collect expenditures that 
respondents may not be able to recall in a retrospective interview. 
Several changes will be made to the Diary, both the online and the 
paper version. First the column ``Mark (X) if purchased for someone not 
on your list'' will be removed. Second, the specific type of alcohol 
purchased will no longer be collected and the question will be updated 
to ``Were alcoholic beverages included in total cost?''; the columns 
for ``wine'', ``beer'', and ``other'' columns will be replaced with 
``yes'' and ``no'' columns; and ``Enter the total cost of the alcohol'' 
will be replaced with ``If YES--How much?'' Third, the column ``Mark 
(X) one that best describes the type of meal'' will be deleted as the 
meal type (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack/drink) is no longer needed. 
Fourth, instruction on the Diary flap on `How to Fill Out Your Diary' 
will be updated to reflect the above changes. The Diary flap 
instructions will also be updated to indicate that food trucks should 
be included in `Mobile Vendor' establishments.
    The advance letters for both the CEQ and CED will be updated to 
reflect changes in the estimated time to complete the interview. 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 provides a link to the address of 
the respondent's informational web page.

[[Page 3843]]

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.

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                                     Total                           Total      Average time per     Estimated
             Form                 respondents      Frequency       responses        response       total burden
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CEQ--Interview................           5,000               4          20,000  68 minutes......          22,667
CEQ--Reinterview..............           2,400               1           2,400  10 minutes......             400
CED--Diary (record-keeping)...           6,250               2          12,500  60 minutes......          12,500
CED--Diary (Interview)........           6,250               2          12,500  19 minutes......           3,958
CED--Diary (Reinterview)......           1,250               1           1,250  10 minutes......             208
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    Totals....................  ..............  ..............          48,650  ................          39,733
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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, on this 19th day of January 2022.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2022-01381 Filed 1-24-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P