[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 196 (Friday, October 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61156-61157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25692]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the

[[Page 61157]]

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders (M3UFO) Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0561.
    Form Number(s): MA-3000.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 6,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 30 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 3,000.
    Needs and Uses: The Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and 
Orders (M3) survey collects monthly data on shipments, inventories, new 
orders, and unfilled orders from manufacturing companies. The orders, 
as well as the shipments and inventories data, are widely used and are 
valuable tools for analysts of business cycle conditions, including 
members of the Council of Economic Advisers, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, Federal Reserve Board, Conference Board, and the business 
community.
    New orders serve as an indicator of future production commitments 
and the data are direct inputs into the leading economic indicator 
series. New orders are derived by adding shipments to the net change in 
the unfilled orders from the previous month. The ratio of unfilled 
orders to shipments is an important indicator of pressure on 
manufacturing capacity.
    The monthly M3 estimates are based on a relatively small panel of 
domestic manufacturers and reflect primarily the month-to-month changes 
of large companies. There is a clear need for periodic benchmarking of 
the M3 estimates to reflect the manufacturing universe. The Economic 
Census, which covers the entire manufacturing sector, and the Annual 
Survey of Manufactures (ASM) provide annual benchmarks for the 
shipments and inventories data in the monthly M3 survey. The 
Manufacturers' Unfilled Orders Survey (M3UFO), the subject of this 
request, provides the annual benchmarks for the unfilled orders data.
    The industries selected for the M3UFO survey are those which the 
U.S. Census Bureau determined to have considerable unfilled orders. The 
survey is necessary to ensure future accuracy of the unfilled orders 
and new orders data in the M3 survey and to determine which North 
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries continue to 
maintain unfilled orders.
    Report forms are mailed to approximately 6,000 companies requesting 
data for 42 of the M3 Survey's 92 NAICS defense and nondefense industry 
categories.
    The Census Bureau uses the information provided by this survey to 
develop universe estimates of unfilled orders for the end of each 
fiscal year, and then to adjust the monthly M3 data on unfilled orders 
to these levels. The benchmarked unfilled orders levels are used to 
derive estimates of new orders received by manufacturers.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 131 and 182.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: October 5, 2015.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2015-25692 Filed 10-8-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P