Notice2025-14783
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Monthly Retail Surveys
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 5, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 148 (Tuesday, August 5, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37468-37470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14783]
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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 October 6, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7f2b1710121e0c5135512c12160b173f1c1a110c0a0c51181009"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="67330f080a0614492d49340a0e130f2704020914121449000811">[email protected]</span></a> and <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0f5f5d4e6c6062626a617b7c4f6b606c21686079"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1e4e4c5f7d7173737b706a6d5e7a717d30797168">[email protected]</span></a>. Please
reference Monthly Retail Surveys in the subject line of your comments.
You may also submit comments, identified by Docket Number USBC-2025-
0072, to the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
All comments received are part of the public record. No comments will
be posted to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> 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 Evelyn Lewis, Chief, Retail Indicators Branch, by phone at 301-763-
2240, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cf8ab9aaa3b6a1e183aab8a6bc8facaaa1bcbabce1a8a0b9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d380b181104135331180a140e3d1e18130e080e531a120b">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 37469]]
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 Non-store 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 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 4,800 companies are selected
using a stratified sample by industry and size. Some 1,150 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
Respondents are initially contacted primarily by email, with a
small subset receiving a letter by mail. After initial contact, non-
respondents are contacted by email and/or telephone follow-up. We
collect the data primarily by internet. We collect a small portion of
the data by mail, telephone follow-up, and fax. Paper collection will
be phased out beginning in late 2025.
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: 13,000.
Estimated Time per Response: 7 minutes per month (over a 12-month
period).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,200.
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.
[[Page 37470]]
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 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,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-14783 Filed 8-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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