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Proposed Collection; Comment Request [08/16/2005]
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Volume 70, Number 157, Page 48195-48196
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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
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. Currently, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed
revision of the ``Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program.''
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 below on or before October 17, 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 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 BLS has been charged by Congress (29 U.S.C. Section 1 and 2)
with the responsibility of collecting and publishing monthly
information on employment, the average wage received, and the hours
worked by area and industry. The process for developing residency-based
employment and unemployment estimates is a cooperative Federal-State
program which uses employment and unemployment inputs available in
State Workforce Agencies.
The labor force estimates developed and issued in this program are
used for economic analysis and as a tool in the implementation of
Federal economic policy in such areas as employment and economic
development under the Workforce Investment Act and the Public Works and
Economic Development Act, among others.
The estimates also are used in economic analysis by public agencies
and private industry, and for State and area funding allocations and
eligibility determinations according to legal and administrative
requirements. Implementation of current policy and legislative
authorities could not be accomplished without collection of the data.
The reports and manual covered by this request are integral parts
of the LAUS program insofar as they insure and/or measure the
timeliness, quality, consistency, and adherence to program directions
of the LAUS estimates and related research.
II. Current Action
The BLS is revising the information collection request that makes
up the LAUS program. All aspects of the program are automated. All data
are entered directly into BLS-provided systems.
The BLS, as part of its responsibility to develop concepts and
methods by which States prepare estimates under the LAUS program,
developed a manual for use by the States. The manual explains the
conceptual framework for the State and area estimates of employment and
unemployment, specifies the procedures to be used,
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provides input information, and discusses the theoretical and empirical
basis for each procedure. This manual is updated on a regular schedule.
The LAUS program implemented a major program redesign in January 2005.
The Redesign was announced in the Federal Register on November 8, 2004.
The increase in the number of responses from the last collection is
due to the increase in the number of areas covered by the program.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Program.
OMB Number: 1220-0017.
Affected Public: State government.
Total Respondents: 52.
Frequency: Monthly and Annually.
Total Responses: 95,069.
Average Time Per Response: 1.50 hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 142,298 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments that:
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;
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;
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
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.
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 9th day of August, 2005.
Cathy Kazanowski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 05-16191 Filed 8-15-05; 8:45 am]
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