2012 RCB OMB Supp Stmt Part A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Census Bureau
2012 Economic Census Covering the Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services
Sectors
OMB Control Number 0607-0927
Part A - Justification
1.

Necessity of Information Collection
The 2012 Economic Census Covering the Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food
Services Sectors will use a mail canvass, supplemented by data from Federal
administrative records, to measure the economic activity of 1.7 million employer
establishments classified in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
For more details on the NAICS structure, see Part A, Section 19.
The retail trade sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in selling
merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the
sale of merchandise. The accommodation and food services sector comprises
establishments providing customers with lodging and/or preparing meals, snacks, and
beverages for immediate consumption. The information collected will produce basic
statistics by kind of business on number of establishments, sales, payroll, and
employment. It will also yield a variety of subject statistics, including sales by product
line, sales by class of customer, and other industry-specific measures, such as number of
guestrooms provided by hotels and sales per square foot for supermarkets, department
stores, warehouse clubs, and supercenters. Basic statistics will be summarized for the
United States, states, metropolitan areas, counties, places, and ZIP code areas.
Tabulations of subject statistics also will present data for the United States and, in some
cases, for states.
This information collection is part of the 2012 Economic Census, which is required by
law under Title 13, United States Code (USC). Section 131 of this statute directs the
taking of a census at 5-year intervals. Section 224 makes reporting mandatory.

2.

Needs and Uses
The economic census is the primary source of facts about the structure and functioning of
the Nation's economy and features unique industry and geographic detail. Economic
census statistics serve as part of the framework for the national accounts and provide
essential information for government, business, and the general public. The Federal
Government uses information from the economic census as an important part of the
framework for the national income and product accounts, input-output tables, economic
indexes, and other composite measures that serve as the factual basis for economic
policy-making, planning, and program administration. Further, the census provides
sampling frames and benchmarks for current surveys of business which track short-term

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economic trends, serve as economic indicators, and contribute critical source data for
current estimates of gross domestic product. State and local governments rely on the
economic census as a unique source of comprehensive economic statistics for small
geographic areas for use in policy-making, planning, and program administration.
Finally, industry, business, academe, and the general public use information from the
economic census for evaluating markets, preparing business plans, making business
decisions, developing economic models and forecasts, conducting economic research,
and establishing benchmarks for their own sample surveys.
If the economic census was not conducted, the Federal Government would lose vital
source data and benchmarks for the national accounts, input-output tables, and other
composite measures of economic activity, causing a substantial degradation in the quality
of these important statistics. Further, the government would lose critical benchmarks for
current sample-based economic surveys and an essential source of detailed,
comprehensive economic information for use in policy-making, planning, and program
administration.
Information quality is an integral part of the pre-dissemination review of the information
disseminated by the Census Bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau's Information
Quality Guidelines). Information quality is also integral to the information collections
conducted by the Census Bureau and is incorporated into the clearance process required
by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
3.

Use of Information Technology
Companies may satisfy their reporting requirement for this information collection by
providing data electronically. Companies with more than one location will have the
option to download software with a spreadsheet interface and provide data via the
Internet or on CD-ROM. For the first time, single-establishment companies will have the
option for direct Internet-based reporting. For the 2007 Economic Census covering the
Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services sectors, approximately 35% of
responses were provided electronically. With the addition of direct Internet-based
reporting for single-establishment companies in 2012, approximately 47% of respondents
in the Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services sectors are expected to report
electronically.

4.

Efforts to Identify Duplication
The U.S. Census Bureau found no information collections by Federal agencies, trade
groups, or businesses that duplicate the content, comprehensive coverage, industry detail,
geographic detail, and statistical reliability provided by the economic census. These
features are distinguishing characteristics of economic census data; they meet
requirements of principal data users and make the census uniquely suited to the purposes
it serves.

5.

Minimizing Burden

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This information collection minimizes the burden on small businesses by excluding most
of them from the mail canvass. The census will use data from Federal administrative
records in lieu of census reports for most small establishments with paid employees
(generally those with fewer than four employees). Only a sample of these establishments
will be included in the mail canvass to permit development of reliable estimates for data
that are not available from Federal administrative records (e.g., sales by product line and
other special inquiries). Part B of this supporting statement gives a more complete
description of this data collection methodology.
6.

Consequences of Less Frequent Collection
The economic census is conducted at 5-year intervals, as required by Title 13 USC,
Section 131. If this information collection were conducted less frequently, it would
diminish the timeliness and usefulness of the statistics produced. This would cause a
corresponding deterioration in the national accounts, input-output tables, economic
indexes, business surveys, and other measures that rely on source data and benchmarks
from the economic census. Similarly, less frequent collection would diminish the
usefulness of the economic census as a source of comprehensive information for
economic policy-making, planning, and program administration.

7.

Special Circumstances
This information collection will be conducted in a manner consistent with Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines and there are no special circumstances.

8.

Consultations Outside the Agency
Consultations with principal data users occurred throughout 2010. To initiate this
process, we sent copies of report forms for the 2007 Economic Census to 90
organizations, including Federal agencies, trade groups, and trade publications. We
asked these organizations to review the report form(s) relevant to their data needs and
interests and to provide recommendations on content, terms and definitions, instructions,
and other aspects of report form design for the 2012 Economic Census. These
consultations were provided individually and were not for the purpose of providing a
group consensus opinion. Forty-one organizations responded by mail, fax, telephone, or
email.
Attachment F identifies the organizations that we contacted in this effort. Attachment G
gives a representative selection of the correspondence we received from participants in
these consultations. Finally, Attachment H summarizes the substantive changes we made
to standard forms in response to the recommendations we received, and Attachment I
does the same for classification forms.
The problems we encountered were minor. We were unable to adopt several
recommendations because they entailed excessive cost or response burden, because firms

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we consulted said they could not report the requested information, or because there were
conflicts with other requirements.
Further, we published a notice in the Federal Register on January 19, 2011, inviting
public comment on our plans to submit this request (76FR pages 3081-3082). No
comments were received during the 60-day comment period.
9.

Paying Respondents
The U. S. Census Bureau does not pay respondents and does not provide them with gifts
in any form to report requested information in the economic census.

10.

Assurance of Confidentiality
The report forms for this information collection will give respondents the following
assurance of confidentiality:
YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Title 13, United States Code,
requires businesses and other organizations that receive this questionnaire to
answer the questions and return the report to the U. S. Census Bureau. By the
same law, YOUR CENSUS REPORT IS CONFIDENTIAL. It may be seen
only by persons sworn to uphold the confidentiality of Census Bureau information
and may be used only for statistical purposes. Further, copies retained in
respondents' files are immune from legal process.
Similar guarantees will be included in a cover letter that accompanies the report form.
The statutory basis for these assurances of confidentiality is Title 13 USC, Section 9. All
activities relating to the collection and dissemination of economic census data satisfy
requirements of this law. The U.S. Census Bureau also satisfies the requirements of the
Privacy Act of 1974, when applicable.

11.

Justification for Sensitive Questions
This information collection asks no questions of a sensitive nature.

12.

Estimate of Hour Burden
Attachment A provides an estimate of respondent burden for each of the 40 report forms
covered by this request. Figures for number of respondents by form are projections based
on 2007 Economic Census data and tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business
Register; they assume a 100 percent response rate. In all cases, the census requires one
response per establishment. Estimates for number of hours per response are reasonable
estimates of the time needed to read the census report form, the accompanying
information sheets, and other materials in the census mail package; to gather, organize,
and summarize information; and to record answers on the report form or enter data
electronically.

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Overall respondent burden for FY 2013 is estimated at 1,002,396 hours (1,110,069
responses at 0.9 hours each, on the average). We are submitting this request for one
burden hour now and will submit a non-substantive change request at the beginning of
FY 2013 to increase the burden and number of respondents to their actual amounts.
Overall respondent cost for FY 2013 is estimated at $29,079,507.
13.

Estimate of Cost Burden
We do not expect respondents to incur any costs other than that of their time to respond.
The information requested is of the type and scope normally carried in company records
and no special hardware or accounting software or system is necessary to provide
answers to this information collection. Therefore, respondents are not expected to incur
any capital and start-up costs or system maintenance costs in responding. Further,
purchasing of outside accounting or information collection services, if performed by the
respondent, is part of usual and customary business practices and not specifically
required for this information collection.

14.

Cost to the Federal Government
The cost to the government for this work is included in the total cost of the 2012
Economic Census, estimated to be $665 million.

15.

Reason for Change in Burden
The change in burden is attributable to the information collection being submitted as a
reinstatement.

16.

Project Schedule
The U. S. Census Bureau will mail report forms for this information collection at the end
of 2012, with a due date of February 12, 2013. Mail follow-ups to nonrespondents will
begin in late February 2013. These efforts, supplemented by telephone follow-ups to
selected nonrespondents, will go on through mid-year. We will check in report forms and
perform data entry for responses until the close-out for data collection operations in
mid-August. Receipt of administrative records, automated edits, and initial efforts to
resolve reporting problems will continue through September 2013. Then we will prepare
tabulations and related analytical summaries, perform statistical analyses, and submit the
data to further review and correction. The first release of data is scheduled to occur
during the first quarter of 2014, and all data dissemination should be complete by the
middle of 2016.

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Timetable for the Retail Trade and Accommodation and Food Services Sectors of the 2012
Economic Census
Activity

Start1

End1

Extract mailing list from the Business Register……………… 08/12
09/12
Prepare mailing pieces………………………………………… 09/12
12/12
Mail report forms……………………………………………… 10/12
12/12
Due date……………………………………………………….. 02/13
02/13
Follow-up for nonresponse……………………………………. 02/13
07/13
Receive and check in responses………………………………. 01/13
08/13
Perform data capture………………………………………….. 01/13
08/13
Close out data collection……………………………………… 08/13
08/13
Receive, process administrative records……………………… 05/12
12/13
Edit data, resolve problems…………………………………… 02/13
09/13
Prepare and analyze tabulations………………………………. 10/13
05/16
Data release…………………………………………………… 02/14
06/16
=====================================================================
1
All dates are approximate (month/year).
Our data dissemination plans summarizing the results of this information collection will
be similar in number and type to those for the 2007 Economic Census. To improve the
timeliness, relevance, and usefulness of all data products, the U. S. Census Bureau will
continue to release economic census data on the Internet. Products from this data
collection include the following:


Industry Series--This series will include 16 preliminary industry releases covering
selected NAICS industry groupings. Each release will present detailed preliminary
industry statistics for the United States on: the number of establishments, sales,
annual payroll, first quarter payroll, and employment for the pay period including
March 12, 2012; industry statistics on sales by product line; and comparative statistics
on a 2007 NAICS basis for 2012 and 2007.



Geographic Area Series--This series will present tabulations for the United States,
each state, and the District of Columbia. These tabulations will summarize data by
kind of business for the United States, states, metropolitan areas, counties, and places.
Tabulations will present basic statistics for establishments with payroll, including
number of establishments, sales, annual payroll, first quarter payroll, and employment
for the pay period including March 12, 2012.



Subject Series--This series will present tabulations for the United States and, in some
cases, for states. All summaries will present data only for establishments with
payroll. Included will be an Establishment and Firm Size release that will summarize
basic information by sales size category and by employment size category for both
establishments and firms, and sales concentration for the largest firms in each

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industry; a Product Line Sales release that will give detailed industry statistics on
sales by product line; and Miscellaneous Subjects releases that will present a variety
of tabulations for industry-specific special inquiries.


17.

ZIP Code Statistics Series--This series will summarize statistics for establishments
with payroll for ZIP Code Areas. Tabulations will give number of establishments by
sales size category for limited kind-of-business detail.

Request to Not Display Expiration Date
The assigned expiration date will be displayed on all report forms used in this
information collection.

18.

Exceptions to the Certification
There are no exceptions to the certification.

19.

NAICS Codes Affected
For the 2012 Economic Census covering the retail trade and accommodation and food
services sectors, the following NAICS major industry groups will be covered:
Retail Trade
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
451
452
453
454

Motor vehicle and parts dealers
Furniture and home furnishings stores
Electronics and appliance stores
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers
Food and beverage stores
Health and personal care stores
Gasoline stations
Clothing and clothing accessories stores
Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores
General merchandise stores
Miscellaneous store retailers
Nonstore retailers

Accommodation and Food Services
721
722

Accommodation
Food services and drinking places