FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1998 Public Information Office CB98-25 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) Robert Marske Economic Planning Staff 301-457-2547 Businesses Urged to Return 1997 Economic Census Forms The Commerce Department's Census Bureau today urged more than 5 million businesses to return their 1997 Economic Census forms by Thursday, Feb. 12. The forms were mailed last December. All census data are kept strictly confidential. The law requires the forms be filled out and returned. To assist businesses in completing their forms, the Census Bureau is staffing a toll-free telephone line from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, (800-233-6136). In addition, there is an Internet site http://www.census.gov/econ97 to provide information and assistance. "The quicker businesses respond, the quicker the Census Bureau can provide new information to enable better business and government decisions," said Thomas L. Mesenbourg, assistant director for economic programs. "This will result in savings in time and money for everyone." The economic census is conducted every five years. It provides a detailed portrait of the U.S. economy at the national, state and local levels. Census data show how the economy is performing; they also are used to update and fine-tune such widely used figures as the gross domestic product (GDP) and monthly retail sales. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, has called the economic census "indispensable to understanding America's economy. It assures the accuracy of the statistics we rely on for sound economic policy and for successful business planning." Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, emphasized the importance of the economic census, stating: "Sound and timely economic data are the fuel that powers economic decision-making. Without it, policy-makers in both the public and private sector would be flying blind." By law, only sworn Census Bureau employees may see individual responses. Business responses are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act so that business competitors cannot obtain individual company data. The economic census will be the first published entirely on the Internet. Summary data are expected to be made available by early 1999. In addition, all data will be published on CD-ROM, with highlights in printed reports.-X-The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
