[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 193 (Thursday, October 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60643-60644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21720]


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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; Monthly Retail Surveys

AGENCY: Census Bureau, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, invites 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. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the 
proposed extension of the Monthly Retail Surveys, prior to the 
submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for 
approval.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before December 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference Monthly Retail 
Surveys in the subject line of your comments. You may also submit 
comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2022-0017, to the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. All comments received 
are part of the public record. No comments will be posted to http://www.regulations.gov for public viewing until after the comment period 
has closed. Comments will generally be posted without change. All 
Personally Identifiable Information (for example, name and address) 
voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do 
not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information. You may submit attachments to electronic 
comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF file formats.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Paul Bucchioni, Chief, Retail Indicators Branch, 301-763-7125, and 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau plans to request an extension of the current 
Office of Management and Budget clearance for the surveys known as the 
Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) and the Advance Monthly Retail Trade 
Survey (MARTS). The MRTS and MARTS are related collections sharing the 
same initial sample frame and collect data that are published in 
conjunction with each other. These two surveys are collectively called 
the Monthly Retail Surveys (MRS).
    The Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) provides estimates of 
monthly retail sales, end-of-month merchandise inventories, and 
quarterly e-commerce sales for firms located in the United States and 
classified in the Retail Trade or Food Services sectors as defined by 
the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
    Estimates produced from the MRTS are based on a probability sample 
of approximately 13,000 firms. The sample design consists of one fixed 
panel where all cases are requested to report sales, e-commerce sales, 
and/or inventories for the prior month. If reporting data for a period 
other than the calendar month, the survey asks for the period's length 
(4 or 5 weeks) and the date on which the period ended. The survey also 
asks for the number of establishments covered by the data provided and 
whether the sales data provided are estimates or more accurate ``book'' 
figures. The sample is drawn approximately every 5 to 7 years from the 
Business Register, which contains all Employer Identification Numbers 
(EINs) and listed establishment locations. The sample is updated 
quarterly to reflect employer business ``births'' and ``deaths''; 
adding new employer businesses identified in the Business and 
Professional Classification Survey (SQ-CLASS) and deleting firms and 
EINs when it is determined they are no longer active. Estimates from 
the MRTS are released in 3 parts. The MRTS sales estimates are also 
used as input to the Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) experimental 
release first published in September 2020. The MSRS report is a blended 
data product combining Monthly Retail Trade Survey data, administrative 
data, and third-party data. Data are available for year-over-year 
percent changes for Total Retail Sales excluding Nonstore Retailers as 
well as 11 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail 
subsectors. High level aggregate estimates for end of month inventories 
are first released as part of the Advance Economic Indicators Report 
approximately four weeks after the close

[[Page 60644]]

of the reference month. The sales and inventories estimates from MRTS 
are released approximately six weeks after the close of the reference 
month as part of the Monthly Retail Trade report and the Manufacturing 
and Trade Inventories and Sales (MTIS) report, which are released on 
the same day. Additionally, once per quarter, data for quarterly e-
commerce sales are released approximately 50 days after the close of 
the reference quarter as part of the Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales 
report. Currently, there are no planned changes for MRTS.
    The Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MARTS) provides an early 
indication of monthly sales for retail trade and food services firms 
located in the United States. It 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 survey results are published approximately 
two weeks after the end of the reference month. MARTS provide an OMB-
designated Principal Federal Economic Indicator and the earliest 
available monthly estimates of broad-based retail trade activity. It 
also provides an estimate of monthly sales at food service 
establishments and drinking places.
    The MARTS sample is a sub-sample of companies selected from the 
MRTS. The advance survey sample of about 5,500 companies are selected 
using a stratified sample by industry and size. Some 1,250 firms, 
because of their relatively large effect on the sales of certain 
industry groups, are selected with certainty. The MARTS sample is re-
selected generally at 2\1/2\ to 3-year intervals to ensure it is 
representative of the target population and to redistribute burden for 
small- and medium-sized businesses.
    Similar to the MRTS sales estimates, advance sales estimates for 
each kind of business are developed by applying a ratio of current-
month to previous-month sales (derived from the advance retail and food 
service sample) to the preliminary estimate of sales for the previous 
month (from the larger monthly sample). Industry estimates are summed 
to derive total retail sales figures.
    The MARTS survey requests sales and e-commerce sales for the month 
just ending. As on the MRTS survey, if firms report data for a period 
other than the calendar month, the survey asks for the period's length 
(4 or 5 weeks) and the date on which the period ended. Like MRTS, the 
survey also asks for the number of establishments covered by the data 
provided and whether the sales data provided are estimates or more 
accurate ``book'' figures. Currently, there are no planned changes for 
MARTS.
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses the information 
collected on these surveys to prepare the National Income and Products 
Accounts, to benchmark the annual input-output tables and as critical 
inputs to the calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the National Economic 
Council, and other federal and state governmental agencies as well as 
many private sector entities rely on the timely estimates of retail 
sales when making monetary and economic policy decisions.

II. Method of Collection

    We collect this information primarily by internet. We do collect a 
small portion of the data by mail.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0607-0717.
    Form Number(s): SM-4417A-A, SM-4417A-E, SM-4417AE-A, SM-4417AE-E, 
SM-4417AS-A, SM-4417AS-E, SM-7217A-A, SM7217A-E, SM-4417S-A, SM-4417SE-
A, SM-4417SS-A, SM-7217S-A, SM-7217S-E, SM-4417S-E, SM-4417SE-E, SM-
4417SS-E, SM-4417B-A, SM4417BE-A, SM-4417BS-A, SM-4417B-E, SM-4417BE-E, 
SM-4417BS-E, SM-2017I-A, SM-2017I-E.
    Type of Review: Regular submission, Request for an Extension, 
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Affected Public: Retail and Food Services firms in the United 
States.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: MRTS-13,000; MARTS-5,500.
    Estimated Time per Response: MRTS-7 minutes; MARTS-5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,200. (To eliminate 
duplication, firms that report to the MARTS survey are not required to 
provide sales and ecommerce sales information for MRTS. Therefore, we 
use the MRTS sample size and average burden per response to estimate 
the combined total annual burden for both surveys. The MRTS survey has 
the maximum number of questions for any given survey respondent as well 
as the longest estimated burden (at 7 min)).
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0. (This is not the cost of 
respondents' time, but the indirect costs respondents may incur for 
such things as purchases of specialized software or hardware needed to 
report, or expenditures for accounting or records maintenance services 
required specifically by the collection.)
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. Sections 131 and 182.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include, or summarize, each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-21720 Filed 10-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P