[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 32 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11873-11878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02972]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET


Update of Statistical Policy Directive No. 3: Compilation, 
Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic Indicators--
Changing Timing of Public Comments by Employees of the Executive Branch

AGENCY: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President.

ACTION: Notice of adoption of a revised Statistical Policy Directive 
No. 3.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announces the 
adoption of a revised Statistical Policy Directive No. 3: Compilation, 
Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic Indicators 
(Directive No. 3). The procedures in Directive No. 3, published in 
1985, were designed to ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and timely 
release and dissemination of Principal Federal Economic Indicators. The 
goals of Directive No. 3 remain sound; this Notice announces the 
adoption of procedures consistent with these goals to reflect advances 
in communication technologies and methods. OMB has solely modified the 
provision, ``employees of the Executive Branch shall not comment 
publicly on the data until at least one hour after the official release 
time,'' by replacing ``one hour'' with ``thirty minutes.'' This change 
reduces the delay after official release time before commentary from 
employees of the Executive Branch, while retaining a necessary time 
delay between policy-neutral release of the official statistics and 
subsequent Executive Branch interpretations of this statistical data.

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date of this Directive is February 
19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please send correspondence about OMB's decision to Dominic 
Mancini, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503, or email 
[email protected] with the subject ``More Info: 
Directive No. 3.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karin Orvis, Office of Management and 
Budget, telephone 202-395-5989, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Summary: Under the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 
U.S.C. 1104(d)) and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3504(e)) (the PRA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announces 
a change of one provision within Statistical Policy Directive No. 3: 
Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic 
Indicators (50 FR 38932, Sept. 25, 1985) (Directive No. 3). In 
particular, OMB modifies the provision in Directive No. 3, ``employees 
of the Executive Branch shall not comment publicly on the data until at 
least one hour after the official release time,'' by replacing ``one 
hour'' with ``thirty minutes.''
    Background: Directive No. 3's purposes are ``to preserve the time 
value'' of the Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEIs), ``strike 
a balance between timeliness and accuracy,'' ``prevent early access to 
information that may affect financial and commodity markets,'' and 
``preserve the distinction between the policy-neutral release of data 
by statistical agencies and their interpretation by policy officials.'' 
Directive No. 3 also provides for the periodic evaluation of each 
indicator. Directive No. 3 remains a robust, comprehensive source of 
guidance for Federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical 
units producing PFEIs. The government and private sector widely watch 
and heavily rely upon these statistical series as indicators of the 
current condition and direction of the economy.
    The procedures in Directive No. 3, published in 1985, were designed 
to ensure equitable, policy-neutral, and timely release and 
dissemination of PFEIs. The goals of Directive No. 3 remain sound, and 
OMB has not changed them. In furtherance of these goals, OMB retains a 
minimum time period that Executive Branch employees must wait after the 
policy-neutral release of the data before Executive Branch employees 
can comment on those data.
    In April 2019, OMB published in the Federal Register a request for 
comments on a proposal to reduce the duration of the prohibition of 
commentary by employees of the Executive Branch following the PFEI 
release from one hour to something shorter, including the consideration 
of the option of having no delay at all (84 FR 14682, Apr. 11, 2019). 
OMB received sixteen in-scope comments in response to that Notice. All 
in-scope commenters strongly supported either a retention of the one-
hour delay, or a delay of some duration, after official release time 
before employees of the Executive Branch could comment on the PFEI 
releases, with no commenters in support of removing the delay 
entirely.\1\
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    \1\ Public comments received in response to the April 2019 FRN 
are available at www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2019-0001-0001/comment.
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    In August 2023, OMB published in the Federal Register a request for 
public comments on an updated proposal to reduce the duration of the 
prohibition of commentary by employees of the Executive Branch 
following the PFEI release from one hour to 30 minutes. OMB noted that 
it agreed with the previous comments on this issue submitted in 2019 
and understood that maintaining some delay as part of Directive No. 3 
continues to be important to maintain the bright line between the 
release of data and any commentary on such data by Executive Branch 
officials. OMB noted that it was considering this updated proposal 
because, while the delay is important to ensuring a bright line between 
the data release and the Executive Branch's policy interpretation, 
since 1985 there have been many changes in the way the public 
communicates, as well as in how the relevant statistical agencies 
disseminate information. For example,

[[Page 11874]]

in addition to more traditional means of dissemination (e.g., newspaper 
or radio), agencies now disseminate and the public interacts with data 
releases through the internet, including through websites, social media 
platforms, and other applications. These newer dissemination platforms 
in particular offer nearly instantaneous access to any information 
supplied by the agencies producing the PFEI data, including the data 
releases. These platforms can also offer direct attribution of the data 
to the agencies that produce it; these agencies are required to meet 
data quality standards and are trusted to implement those requirements. 
OMB noted that these advances in the timing and attribution of 
dissemination can contribute to the ability of the public to fully 
digest the data releases sooner than when such dissemination methods 
were not available.
    In addition, OMB noted that the public generally communicates and 
interacts differently now than in 1985. In particular, various 
platforms exist now that allow the public to interact seconds after a 
new data release comes out. This means that for these PFEI data 
releases, non-Executive Branch actors are engaging in dialogue almost 
immediately following the official release time and can be offering 
perspectives on the meaning of the data. Under the 1985 Directive No. 
3, this dialogue lacks any Executive Branch interpretation until at 
least one hour after the data's official release time. OMB notes that 
discussion by non-Executive Branch employees about the PFEI data 
release starts immediately following the release, and as such, by the 
time 30 minutes has passed, a robust discussion is already well 
underway. By reducing the period to 30 minutes, Executive Branch 
officials could enter the dialogue earlier. OMB noted that it believes 
that this change is likely to lead to a more robust discussion without 
compromising the underlying principles of Directive No. 3, including 
the benefits of having some time delay. OMB did not consider any other 
alternatives in the August 2023 proposal.
    OMB sought comments from all interested parties, including data 
users, businesses, organizations, and the media. OMB specifically 
solicited comments from the public about the proposal to change the 
delay from one hour to 30 minutes, including whether such a change 
could still meet the goals of Directive No. 3 to ensure equitable, 
policy-neutral, and timely release and dissemination of PFEIs. OMB also 
requested input on whether to maintain the one-hour delay.
    More background and history on the policies of Directive No. 3 can 
be found in the August 2023 Federal Register Notice (88 FR 58316), 
available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/08/25/2023-18313/statistical-policy-directive-no-3-compilation-release-and-evaluation-of-principal-federal-economic, and April 2019 Federal 
Register Notice (84 FR 14682) (April 2019 FRN), available at 
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/11/2019-07172/statistical-policy-directive-no-3-compilation-release-and-evaluation-of-principal-federal-economic.
    Summary of Comments: OMB received 12 public comments in response to 
the August 2023 FRN. None of the 12 public comments expressed support 
for making the change from one hour to 30 minutes. The public comments 
raised different substantive points for OMB to consider. All of the 
public comments are viewable at www.regulations.gov/document/OMB-2023-0016-0001/comment.
    Response to Comments:
    OMB provides below responses to these comments, grouped by 
substantive points.
    (1) Comment: There is a need to provide evidence that consumers of 
information will understand the distinction between PFEI releases and 
commentary from employees of the Executive Branch.
    Certain commenters encouraged OMB to provide evidence that 30 
minutes is a sufficient period of time to ensure understanding of the 
distinction between PFEI releases and commentary about those releases 
from employees of the Executive Branch.\2\
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    \2\ See, e.g., American Economic Association Committee on 
Economic Statistics, Comment #0009; Anonymous, Comment #0012.
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    OMB Response:
    It is difficult to directly measure the degree of public 
understanding regarding the distinction between the PFEI data releases 
and commentary from employees of the Executive Branch, and the 
potential effects on that degree of understanding that could result 
from reducing the time delay from one hour to 30 minutes. As discussed 
below, OMB reviewed existing literature and a new analysis from the 
Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and conducted some original analysis 
to estimate the potential effects of the change on market movements, 
news stories, and social media dissemination of such news. One 
commenter suggested analyzing the timing and content of social media 
posts to evaluate potential impact. Given the difficulty of accessing 
and analyzing that data, and taking into account that the analysis 
would also not be capable of directly estimating the impact on public 
understanding, OMB did not undertake this analysis. The information 
available to OMB on both market movements and the timing of news 
stories does not provide evidence that confusion about PFEI data 
releases and commentary from employees of the Executive Branch would be 
likely to result from a reduction in the delay period.
    OMB reviewed analysis conducted by CEA \3\ on the response of 
market participants to PFEI releases. The CEA analysis and summary of 
other relevant literature reviewed by OMB suggest that markets absorb 
at least some of the PFEI release information quickly, in most cases 
within seconds of the release.
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    \3\ See Council of Econ. Advisers, The Timing of Market 
Reactions to Data Releases, The White House (Feb. 14, 2024), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CEA-PFEI-Analysis.pdf.
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    OMB also conducted some analysis of news articles.\4\ OMB's 
analysis suggests that news stories are typically posted well ahead of 
30 minutes after the PFEI release. OMB did not find any evidence that a 
reduction in the delay for Executive Branch commentary has the 
potential to cause confusion.
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    \4\ See Off. of Mgmt. & Budget, The Timing of Press Publications 
After High-Profile PFEI Data Releases, The White House (Feb. 14, 
2024), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/OMB-PFEI-Press.pdf.
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    (2) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute period before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI releases could lead to public concerns 
about political interference or manipulation of data or could reduce 
public trust and confidence in the Federal statistical system.
    Some commenters noted that Directive No. 3 was adopted, in part, to 
address criticism of confusion resulting from the simultaneous release 
of statistical data and commentary from Executive Branch employees.\5\ 
While noting that social media and news networks can now instantly 
broadcast information to the public, these commenters expressed concern 
that narrowing the gap between the release of official PFEI data from 
statistical agencies and units and commentary from Executive Branch 
employees would lead to inferences of political interference or 
manipulation of data. Some commenters noted that accusations of 
improper political

[[Page 11875]]

interference are regularly raised immediately following the release of 
PFEIs.\6\
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    \5\ See, e.g., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Comment #0007; 
American Statistical Association, Comment #0006; Stefanie R. 
Schmidt, Comment #0004; Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002, Anonymous, 
Comment #0012.
    \6\ American Economic Association Committee on Economic 
Statistics, Comment #0009 (citing Ben Casselman, ``No, the Jobs 
Report Wasn't Rigged. Here's What Happened.,'' The New York Times 
(June 8, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/business/economy/jobs-report-data.html); Population Association of America and 
Association of Population Centers, Comment #0011; see also Patricia 
Cohen, ``How Economic Data is Kept Politics-Free,'' The New York 
Times (Nov. 3, 2016), https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/business/economy/unemployment-labor-department-data-politics.html.
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    Certain commenters expressed concerns that a shift from a one-hour 
period to a 30-minute period that must elapse before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI data releases could erode public trust 
and confidence in Federal statistics and statistical agencies and 
units.\7\ Relatedly, some of these commenters went on to express 
concerns that this shift could thereby reduce response rates to 
requests for information from Federal statistical agencies and 
units.\8\
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    \7\ See, e.g., American Statistical Association, Comment #0006; 
National Association for Business Economics, Comment #0008; 
Population Association of America and Association of Population 
Centers, Comment #0011; Stefanie R. Schmidt, Comment #0004, Michael 
Ravnitzky, Comment #0002, Anonymous, Comment #0010.
    \8\ See, e.g., American Statistical Association, Comment #0006; 
Erica L. Groshen, Comment #0003.
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    OMB Response: OMB agrees that the failure to have a sufficient 
delay before Executive Branch employees comment on PFEI releases would 
be problematic and could lead to conflation of the statistical release 
and the commentary. However, OMB believes the evidence surveyed 
indicates that 30 minutes is a sufficient time delay for markets, the 
media, and members of the public to distinguish between the data 
release and commentary from Executive Branch employees. Whatever delay 
may have been necessitated by the state of technology in 1985, when 
Directive No. 3 was issued, OMB believes that the speed at which 
information is disseminated today allows for 30 minutes to be 
sufficient for these purposes. Conversely, OMB believes that the 
available evidence would not support a further reduction to a period of 
less than 30 minutes, and that a sufficient delay period remains 
critical to fulfilling the goals of Directive No. 3.
    OMB appreciates concerns that changing the one-hour period before 
employees of the Executive Branch can comment publicly on PFEIs to a 
30-minute period could exacerbate the distrust that gives rise to 
accusations of improper political interference immediately following 
the release of PFEIs. However, OMB notes that prominent accusations of 
improper political interference tend to either immediately follow a 
surprising release \9\ or gain traction much later on the basis of 
complicated technical details in the underlying reports.\10\ Commenters 
provided no evidence that Executive Branch employees' commentary on 
PFEIs at the one-hour mark prompted such accusations. Thus, OMB does 
not believe that changing the time until Executive Branch employees can 
comment on PFEIs from one hour to 30 minutes would affect such 
accusations.
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    \9\ See, e.g., Joseph Plambeck, ``From Jack Welch, a Conspiracy 
Theory,'' The New York Times (Oct. 5, 2012), https://archive.nytimes.com/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/from-jack-welch-a-conspiracy-theory/.
    \10\ See, e.g., Ben Casselman, ``No, the Jobs Report Wasn't 
Rigged. Here's What Happened.,'' The New York Times (June 8, 2020), 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/business/economy/jobs-report-data.html.
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    Members of the Congress, governors and other state elected 
officials, associations affiliated with political parties, candidates 
for political office, and others all begin commenting on PFEI releases 
in the minutes immediately following the release of PFEIs. As a result, 
public commentary from employees of the Executive Branch enters an 
already-saturated environment whether it begins 30 minutes or one hour 
after the PFEI release. OMB believes that such commentary, following 
others by a substantial gap in time, is not confused with official data 
releases. Thus, OMB believes that Executive Branch employees entering 
this dialogue sooner does not introduce additional costs, but only a 
potential public benefit from the quicker participation of Executive 
Branch employees in this dialogue.
    Another factor contributing to clarity is that Federal statistical 
agencies and units generally communicate PFEI releases directly, with 
links to official reports, through their websites, social media, email 
blasts, and other means (such as interactive dissemination tools and 
Application Programming Interfaces or APIs). Each of the agencies 
producing PFEIs post their releases on their official websites and many 
also operate social media accounts that post links to the PFEI data 
releases within minutes of their public availability, including the 
National Agricultural Statistics Service,\11\ Bureau of the Census,\12\ 
Bureau of Economic Analysis,\13\ Energy Information Administration,\14\ 
Bureau of Labor Statistics,\15\ and Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System.\16\ The social media accounts have tens of thousands to 
millions of followers, ensuring public access to official PFEI data 
within moments of each data release.
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    \11\ See, e.g., https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Reports_By_Date/index.php and https://twitter.com/usda_nass.
    \12\ See, e.g., https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators/calendar-listview.html and https://twitter.com/uscensusbureau.
    \13\ See, e.g., https://www.bea.gov/news/schedule and https://twitter.com/BEA_News.
    \14\ See, e.g., https://www.eia.gov/ and https://twitter.com/EIAgov.
    \15\ See, e.g., https://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm and https://twitter.com/BLS_gov.
    \16\ See, e.g., https://www.federalreserve.gov/data.htm and 
https://twitter.com/federalreserve.
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    In addition, OMB is aware that there have been unexpected and 
unforeseen delays in the release of PFEI data before (see more 
information below). Such delays in the release of the PFEI data can 
introduce confusion with the public and Executive Branch employees 
about when Executive Branch employees are authorized to comment on PFEI 
data release, and the delays themselves can introduce perceptions of 
improper influence with the PFEI data simply because of the unknown 
reasons at the time for the delays. When such delays occur, the 
requirement still holds that Executive Branch employees shall not 
comment until at least 30 minutes after the release of the PFEI data, 
not the scheduled release time. However, in these instances, making 
sure Executive Branch employees are aware of the delay and the updated 
time at which they can comment is important to ensure the commentary 
does not precede the release of PFEI data. OMB plans to work with 
statistical agencies and units that produce PFEIs to ensure that the 
CEA Chair is aware of any significant delays in PFEI releases. The CEA 
Chair, consistent with Directive No. 3, plays an important role in 
coordinating official responses to PFEI releases, and can help to 
inform Executive Branch employees of such delays. All Executive Branch 
employees that comment on PFEI releases have an ongoing obligation to 
ensure that they are in compliance with Directive No. 3, including if 
necessary attending to the effect of a delay in the release of a PFEI 
before commenting on the data release.
    For context, OMB is aware that short delays (e.g., of less than two 
minutes) in the release of PFEI data are common. However, OMB is also 
aware that there have been unexpected and unforeseen longer delays in 
releasing the PFEI data. Over the last 10 years, out of the over 3,700 
PFEI data releases, OMB is aware of five that occurred unexpectedly 30 
minutes or more after the scheduled release time (with the longest 
known

[[Page 11876]]

unexpected delay being 2 hours). While a problem, this is not a 
fundamentally different problem regardless of whether the period before 
employees of the Executive Branch can comment on PFEI data releases is 
one hour or 30 minutes. OMB emphasizes that even in the event of an 
unforeseen delay in the PFEI data release the 30-minute period before 
employees of the Executive Branch can comment still applies. That is, 
the 30-minute period starts after the release of the PFEI data, not 
following the timing of the intended release of the PFEI.
    (3) Comment: In some cases, a shift from a one-hour period to a 30-
minute period will result in Executive Branch employees commenting 
before the stock market opens.
    One commenter argued that allowing employees of the Executive 
Branch to comment before the stock market generally opens (in the 9:00-
9:30 a.m. ET period for PFEIs that are released at 8:30 a.m. ET) may 
confuse markets.\17\
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    \17\ Anonymous, Comment #0005.
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    OMB Response: Of the 35 PFEIs designated by OMB, currently 15 have 
release times at 8:30 a.m. ET.\18\ As noted previously, data indicate 
that futures markets may fully price PFEI data releases quickly, with 
price jumps being completed within minutes following the release of 
several PFEIs. Conversely, one of the advantages of data releases in 
the pre-market opening period is that the price effect can be fully 
integrated before market opening. Conventional wisdom holds that 
allowing important news to be processed before markets open allows for 
concentrated trading in the first few minutes after market with greater 
liquidity, given that market makers generally unload inventory at 
market close to avoid exposure to the risk of overnight price shifts, 
and shields ordinary investors from the volatility of news integration 
in futures markets.\19\ By allowing Executive Branch employees to 
comment on PFEI releases in the pre-market opening period (for those 
PFEIs released at 8:30 a.m. ET), the market-moving effects of such 
commentary, should such commentary incidentally have any market-moving 
effects, can be fully priced in before market open. Conversely, the 
current one-hour period causes commentary to coincide with market open. 
In this way, for those 15 PFEI releases that currently release ahead of 
market open, shifting the period from one hour to 30 minutes could be 
modestly beneficial.
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    \18\ One other PFEI releases before the market opens, at 9:15 
a.m. ET. This means the 30-minute period would occur after the 
market opens.
    \19\ See, e.g., Lei Gao, Yufeng Han, Sophia Zhengzi Li, and 
Guofu Zhou, ``Market Intraday Momentum,'' Journal of Financial 
Economics 129, no. 2 (2018): 394-414.
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    (4) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute period before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI releases increases the likelihood of not 
catching errors in PFEI releases.
    One commenter raised concerns that a shift from a one-hour to a 30-
minute period that must elapse before Executive Branch employees can 
comment on PFEI releases could increase the likelihood of data errors 
or other forms of miscommunication relating to PFEIs as a result of 
less time for data verification or clarification.\20\
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    \20\ Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002.
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    OMB Response: OMB emphasizes that this change does not affect any 
of the error-checking work that precedes the publication of PFEIs; it 
also does not affect clarifications by authorized agency personnel 
during the 30-minute period before other Executive Branch employees can 
comment on PFEI releases. Given the evidence described above that 
market activity may fully price PFEI releases within seconds, as 
discussed previously, there is no evidence to suggest that subsequent 
data correction or clarification is a substantial concern. Further, 
Federal statistical agencies and units work hard to ensure that data 
releases are accurate at the time of release. It is also not clear why 
having Federal employees comment on erroneous data before a correction 
as noted is worse than market, media, and other commentary on that same 
erroneous data before correction. The nature of correcting data is that 
such reactions will need to be revised, in the event that a correction 
occurs.
    (5) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute period before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI releases could cause confusion and lead 
to more noncompliant early commentary.
    One comment stated that changing the delay period before Executive 
Branch employees can comment on PFEI releases is likely to create 
confusion, and lead to a greater number of Executive Branch employees 
commenting before the period has elapsed. The commenter reasons that 
this could occur if an employee is traveling or working in a different 
time zone or due to the effects of Daylight Savings Time.\21\
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    \21\ Michael Ravnitzky, Comment #0002.
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    OMB Response: OMB notes that there is nothing inherently more 
confusing from a compliance standpoint about a 30-minute delay than a 
one-hour delay. Time zone differences and the effects of Daylight 
Savings Time could affect the appropriate local time when an Executive 
Branch employee is authorized to speak regardless of whether Directive 
No. 3 incorporated a one-hour period or a 30-minute period. As such, 
OMB does not believe that the potential for confusion provides a basis 
to prefer one period of time to another.
    (6) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute period before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI releases would lead to wider pre-
dissemination release of PFEIs within the Executive Branch.
    One commenter expressed concern that shifting the period during 
which employees of the Executive Branch cannot comment on PFEI releases 
from one hour to 30 minutes after the release would result in more 
Executive Branch employees having pre-release access to PFEI data, and 
in turn, increases the risk of premature release of PFEI data.\22\
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    \22\ American Statistical Association, Comment #0006.
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    OMB Response: OMB clarifies that it is not effectuating a change in 
the composition of individuals with pre-release access to PFEIs. 
Directive No. 3 strictly limits the pre-release dissemination of PFEI 
data and enumerates specific conditions under which the agency 
producing the PFEI may grant others access to that information. These 
portions of the Directive are not being amended.
    (7) Comment: Shifting to a 30-minute period before Executive Branch 
employees can comment on PFEI releases would lead to less time for 
Executive Branch employees to coordinate a response to the data 
release.
    Certain commenters expressed concern that shifting the period 
during which employees of the Executive Branch cannot comment on PFEI 
releases from one hour to 30 minutes would give Executive Branch 
employees less time to coordinate a response to the PFEI data prior to 
the expiration of this period.\23\
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    \23\ American Statistical Association, Comment #0006; National 
Association for Business Economics, Comment #0008.
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    OMB Response: The President, through the CEA Chair, has access to 
the PFEI data as soon as it is available in advance of the publication 
of the PFEI, providing for time for the Chair to develop a response to 
the PFEI data. Typically, the Chair receives the pre-release PFEI data 
the afternoon before the scheduled release. OMB notes that the 30-
minute period is merely a floor on how soon Executive Branch employees 
can comment and should

[[Page 11877]]

additional discussion be necessary before commenting after 30 minutes 
has elapsed, employees can elect to withhold commentary until such a 
time as they are ready to comment.
    OMB decision: After reviewing the public comments, reviewing 
relevant literature, and examining media and market movements, OMB has 
determined that any costs of shifting the delay period from one hour to 
30 minutes are outweighed by the benefits discussed above.
* * * * *
    The revised directive is published below.

Richard L. Revesz,
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Statistical Policy Directive No. 3

Compilation, Release, and Evaluation of Principal Federal Economic 
Indicators

    Statistical series that are widely watched and heavily relied upon 
by government and the private sector as indicators of the current 
condition and direction of the economy must meet high standards of 
accuracy and reliability. Because such data series have significant 
commercial value, may affect the movement of commodity and financial 
markets, or may be taken as a measure of the impact of government 
policies, public release must be prompt and according to an 
established, publicly available schedule. The purpose of the procedures 
outlined in this directive is to assure that these data series meet 
specific accuracy, release, and accountability standards.
    1. Designation of Principal Indicators. The Administrator for 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
will determine, after consultation with interested Federal agencies, 
the data series and estimates to be designated as principal Federal 
economic indicators and covered by this directive. The Administrator 
will review the designations annually.
    2. Prompt Release. The interval between the period to which the 
data or estimates refer and the date when the data or estimates are 
released to the public shall be as short as practicable. Agencies 
should compile and release series that are issued quarterly or more 
frequently within 22 working days of the end of the reference period.
    3. Release Schedule. The releasing agency is responsible for 
ensuring that the interested public is aware of the release time and 
date. The last report of each calendar year must contain the time and 
date of all reports in the upcoming year. In addition, each release 
will include an announcement of the time and date of the next release. 
The releasing agency shall provide a schedule of releases for the 
upcoming calendar year to the Statistical Policy Office, Office of 
information and Regulatory Affairs, by December 15. Changes in the 
release schedule may occur only if special, unforeseen circumstances 
arise. The releasing agency must announce and fully explain any 
schedule changes as soon as it has determined they are unavoidable.
    There should be one office in the agency that can provide the 
release schedule of all the agency's economic indicators. The name, 
address, and telephone number of this office should be readily 
available to the public. Agencies shall establish and maintain one or 
two times of day for the release of their principal economic indicators 
and shall only release indicators at such designated times.
    4. Announcement of Changes. Agencies shall announce any planned 
change in data collection, analysis, or estimation methods that may 
affect the interpretation of a principal economic indicator as far in 
advance of the change as possible. The agency should include the 
announcement in a regular report of the economic indicator. When 
possible, a period of public comment should be provided between the 
announcement of an intended change and its implementation. At a minimum 
for quarterly and monthly series, the agency shall announce the change 
at least three reports before the first report affected by the change. 
For weekly and annual series, the announcement should precede the first 
report affected by the change by at least three months. In the first 
report affected by the change, the agency should include a complete 
description of the change and its impact.
    Agencies shall fully explain unforeseeable changes due to special 
circumstances as soon as they are known and in the first report 
affected by the change.
    5. Release Procedure. The statistical agency that produces each 
principal economic indicator shall issue it in a press release or other 
printed report. The agency shall issue a press release where this will 
significantly speed up the dissemination of data to the public.
    Each statistical agency shall be responsible for establishing 
procedures to assure that there is no premature release of information 
or data estimates during the time required for preparation of the 
public report. This includes the protection of public use data banks, 
which shall not receive any data or estimates until they are officially 
released. As soon as copies of materials for public release have been 
prepared, the agency shall physically secure them.
    Except for the authorized distribution described in this section, 
agencies shall ensure that no information or data estimates are 
released before the official release time.
    The agency will provide prerelease information to the President, 
through the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, as soon as it 
is available. The agency may grant others prerelease access only under 
the following conditions:
    (a) The agency head must establish whatever security arrangements 
are necessary and impose whatever conditions on the granting of access 
are necessary to ensure that there is no unauthorized dissemination or 
use.
    (b) The agency head shall ensure that any person granted access has 
been fully informed of and agreed to these conditions.
    (c) Any prerelease of information under an embargo shall not 
precede the official release time by more than 30 minutes.
    (d) In all cases, prerelease access shall precede the official 
release time only to the extent necessary for an orderly review of the 
data.
    All employees of the Executive Branch who receive prerelease 
distribution of information and data estimates as authorized above are 
responsible for assuring that there is no release prior to the official 
release time. Except for members of the staff of the agency issuing the 
principal economic indicator who have been designated by the agency 
head to provide technical explanations of the data, employees of the 
Executive Branch shall not comment publicly on the data until at least 
thirty minutes after the official release time.
    6. Preliminary Estimates and Revisions. Deciding when to release a 
principal economic indicator requires the balancing of accuracy and 
timeliness. Agencies should not withhold information needed to evaluate 
current economic conditions by imposing unnecessarily stringent 
accuracy requirements on preliminary estimates. However, agencies shall 
use the following guidelines when issuing and evaluating preliminary 
data and revisions:
    (a) Agencies shall clearly identify figures as preliminary or 
revised.
    (b) Agencies shall only release routine revisions of a principal 
economic indicator as part of the regular reporting schedule.
    (c) If the difference between preliminary and final aggregate 
figures is large relative to average period-to-

[[Page 11878]]

period differences, the agency must either take steps to improve the 
accuracy of preliminary estimates or delay the release of estimates 
until a reliable estimate can be made.
    (d) If preliminary estimates show signs of a consistent bias (for 
example, if revisions are consistently in the same direction), the 
agency shall take steps to correct this bias.
    (e) Revisions occurring for routine reasons, such as benchmarking 
and updating of seasonality factors, shall be consolidated and released 
simultaneously.
    (f) Revisions occurring for other than routine reasons shall be 
fully explained and shall be released as soon as corrections can be 
completed.
    7. Granting of Exceptions. Prior to taking any action that may 
violate the provisions of this directive, the head of a releasing 
agency shall consult with the Administrator for Information and 
Regulatory Affairs. If the Administrator determines that the action is 
in violation of the provisions of this directive, the head of the 
releasing agency may apply for an exception. The Administrator may 
authorize exceptions to the provisions in sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of 
this Directive. Any agency requesting an exception must demonstrate to 
the satisfaction of the Administrator that the proposed exception is 
necessary and is consistent with the purposes of the Directive.
    8. Performance Evaluation. Each agency that issues a principal 
Federal economic indicator shall submit a performance evaluation of 
that indicator to the Statistical Policy Office, Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, every three years. A schedule for the 
performance evaluation of data series or estimates designated as 
principal Federal economic indicators will be prepared by the 
Statistical Policy Office. The evaluation shall address the following 
issues:
    (a) the accuracy and reliability of the series, e.g., the magnitude 
and direction of all revisions, the performance of the series relative 
to established benchmarks, and the proportion and effect of 
nonresponses or responses received after the publication of preliminary 
estimates;
    (b) the accuracy, completeness, and accessibility of documentation 
describing the methods used in compiling and revising the indicator;
    (c) the agency's performance in meeting the designated release 
schedule and the prompt release objective of this directive;
    (d) the agency's ability to avoid disclosure prior to the scheduled 
release time;
    (e) any additional issues that the Administrator for Information 
and Regulatory Affairs specifies in writing to the agency at least 6 
months in advance of the scheduled submission date.
    The evaluation will be reviewed by the Administrator to determine 
whether the indicator is prepared and published in conformity with all 
OMB statistical policies, standards, and guidelines. A summary of the 
year's evaluations and their reviews will be included in the annual 
report to Congress required by section 3514 of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-511).

[FR Doc. 2024-02972 Filed 2-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P