Under Secretary Kathleen Cooper Previews New Service Sector Survey

First New Economic Indicator Introduced by Census Bureau in 40 Years

Dr. Kathleen Cooper, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Dr. Frederick “Knick” Knickerbocker, the Census Bureau’s Associate Director for Economic Programs, take questions from the media during a press briefing Wednesday on the Bureau’s new Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). The QSS, the first new economic indicator to be introduced by the Census Bureau in 40 years, will provide data on service industries that account for nearly 55 percent of the nation’s economic activity.

Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans opened the media briefing by noting, “… we have an $11 trillion economy. Our economy is strong and continues to grow. In order to adequately measure that growth, the measurement of economic data must continue to evolve.” He added that the QSS will help close a critical measurement gap in the U.S. economy.

Under Secretary Cooper said that data from the new QSS survey will substantially improve the accuracy of early Gross Domestic Produce estimates produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). As the Administrator of the Economic Statistics Administration, Dr. Cooper oversees the work of BEA and the Census Bureau.
“This is a big step, but a first step in improving the quality and timeliness of data that are important to policy and lawmakers, American business, industry, and the health of our economy,” said Dr. Cooper.

Dr. Knickerbocker told reporters that the “QSS will initially provide new data for three sectors that account for about 15 percent of the gross domestic product.” The sectors are: information; professional, scientific and technical services; and administrative and support, including employment, services. The Census Bureau will expand the QSS in 2005 to include hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities.

The first estimates from the QSS will be released at 10 a.m. on Sept. 13 at the Commerce Department. The initial data will be for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2003 and the first and second quarters of 2004.