[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76791-76793]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27974]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Collection, Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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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 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. 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 extension of the ``Producer Price Index Survey.'' A copy of 
the proposed information collection request (ICR) 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 February 22, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone

[[Page 76792]]

number 202-691-7628. (This is not a toll free number.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy A. Hobby, BLS Clearance Officer, 
telephone number 202-691-7628. (See ADDRESSES section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Producer Price Index (PPI), one of the Nation's leading 
economic indicators, is used as a measure of price movements, as an 
indicator of inflationary trends, for inventory valuation, and as a 
measure of purchasing power of the dollar at the primary-market level. 
It also is used for market and economic research and as a basis for 
escalation in long-term contracts and purchase agreements.
    PPI data provide a description of the magnitude and composition of 
price change within the economy, and serve a wide range of governmental 
needs. These monthly indexes are closely followed and are viewed as 
sensitive indicators. Price data are vital in helping both the 
President and Congress set fiscal spending targets. PPIs are monitored 
by the Federal Reserve Board Open Market Committee to help decide 
monetary policy. The Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic 
Advisors use PPI data to help form and evaluate monetary and fiscal 
measures, and to help interpret the business environment. Furthermore, 
dollar-denominated measures of economic performance, such as the Gross 
Domestic Product, require accurate price data in order to convert 
nominal-dollar values to constant-dollar values. Inflation-free 
national income accounting figures are vital to fiscal and monetary 
policymakers when setting objectives. In addition, it is common to find 
one or more PPIs, alone or in combination with other measures, used to 
escalate the delivered price of goods for government purchases.
    PPI data are used by the private sector. Private industry uses PPI 
data for contract escalation. For one particular method of tax-related 
Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) inventory accounting, the Internal Revenue 
Service suggests that firms use PPI data. Private businesses make 
extensive use of industrial-price data for planning and operating. 
Price trends are used to assess market conditions. Firms commonly 
compare the prices they pay for material inputs and the prices they 
receive for products that they sell with changes in similar PPIs.
    Economic researchers and forecasters also use the PPI. Price 
indexes are widely used to probe and measure the interaction of market 
forces. Some examples of research topics that require extensive price 
data include: the identification of varying price elasticities and the 
degree of cost pass-through in the economy, the identification of 
potential lead and lag structures among price changes, and the 
identification of prices which exert major impacts throughout market 
structures.
    A description of program enhancements that improve data 
completeness, streamline collection procedures, and reduce overall 
respondent burden follows.
    A. Disaggregation--Improvements made to disaggregation (i.e., item 
selection) procedures have helped to better define a publication 
structure that is: (1) Publishable in its entirety, (2) meets user 
needs, (3) continuous, and (4) permits meaningful classification of 
current production. Data now are collected using a method where price-
quotation selection is spread across predetermined product categories 
that correspond to the complete output for a North American Industry 
Classification System (NAICS) industry. This modification nearly 
guarantees that the PPI will collect enough price quotations to 
populate more lightly weighted cells.
    B. Sampling--Modifications made to sampling procedures now permit 
the PPI to update weights of industry indexes without initiating a new 
set of respondents. This process change is called ``recycling without 
resampling.'' The PPI also has made it operationally feasible to 
augment the sample of price quotations for a single product line within 
a NAICS industry, rather than having to initiate an entirely new set of 
respondents when such needs arise. These improvements enable the PPI 
program to reduce both data-collection expenses and respondent burden, 
while permitting efficient reallocation of program resources.
    C. Publication--Historically, the PPI had been a family of indexes 
focusing on the mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry 
sectors. However, the PPI's mission now includes a mandate requiring 
the program work toward publication, wherever possible, of output price 
indexes for every six-digit NAICS industry, including coverage of non-
goods producing industries. The PPI currently publishes 128 industry-
based indexes for non-goods producing industries. PPI coverage efforts 
are now focusing on the development of price indexes that would track 
the construction sector of the U.S. economy.
    D. NAICS Classification--Effective with the release of data for 
January 2004, the PPI converted its sampling, data collection, and 
industry-based publication structures to the NAICS. Through December 
2003, PPI's industry-based procedures were linked to the Standard 
Industrial Classification (SIC) organizational system.
    E. Electronic Data Collection--The BLS currently is developing 
electronic data collection procedures that will reduce respondent 
burden and increase efficiency. In addition, the BLS continues to 
investigate and pursue technological solutions that permit secure e-
mail transactions between the BLS and its respondents. However, these 
technological improvements also must safeguard the confidential 
respondent information the BLS receives.

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The BLS is particularly interested in comments that:
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    <bullet> 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.

III. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Producer Price Index Survey.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Producer Price Index Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0008.
    Affected Public: Business and other for-profit.

[[Page 76793]]



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                                                                                   Average time      Estimated
             Form                    Total          Frequency          Total       per response    total burden
                                  respondents                        responses       (minutes)        (hours)
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BLS 1810A, A1, B, C, C1, and E           6,340  once............           6,340             120          12,680
BLS 473P......................          26,250  monthly.........       1,260,000              18         378,000
    Totals....................          32,590  ................       1,266,340  ..............         390,680
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    Total Burden Cost (Capital/Startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (Operating/Maintenance): $0.
    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, this 7th day of December 2004.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 04-27974 Filed 12-21-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P