[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 48 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17377-17379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05042]


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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 December 8, 2023 during a 60-day comment period. 
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
    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: 24,200.
    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: 20,700.
    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 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. At the time it was launched,

[[Page 17378]]

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 service); 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 sectors. 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 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 the 2019 first quarter estimates, 
originally published on May 17, 2019, the Advance Quarterly Services 
Report includes a seasonally adjusted estimate for the Selected 
Services Total. With the release of the 2021 fourth quarter estimates, 
on March 11, 2022, the Quarterly Services Report now includes 135 
seasonally adjusted revenue series. Additionally, with the release of 
the 2022 fourth quarter estimates, on March 14, 2023, the Quarterly 
Services Report includes seasonally adjusted expenses estimates for 40 
selected industries. 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.
    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.
    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.
    Estimates collected from this survey are used for market research, 
industry growth, business planning, economic policy decisions, and 
forecasting by various government agencies and departments; private 
businesses; investors; trade organizations; professional associations; 
academia; and other various business research and analysis 
organizations.
    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

[[Page 17379]]

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 Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-05042 Filed 3-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P