FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                            WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2003

                                
Mike Bergman                                                         CB03-31
Public Information Office
(301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax)
(301) 457-1037 (TDD)                            Quotes and radio sound bites
e-mail: pio@census.gov                               
     
Businesses: America Needs Your Numbers
                                
              Feb. 12 Deadline Nears for Economic Census 
                                
  The Commerce Department's Census Bureau today reminded 5 million U.S.
businesses that time is running out for returning 2002 Economic Census
forms. Businesses that receive forms are required by law to respond. The
forms are due by Feb. 12.

  "The quicker businesses respond, the faster we can compile the data and
provide the information needed by policy-makers and the business community
alike," said Charles Louis Kincannon, director of the Census Bureau.
"Meeting the deadline will save time and money for both the government and
business."

  The Census Bureau stressed that businesses may use the Internet to
securely file their information electronically. For the first time,
businesses may extract data from their own spreadsheets and drop them into
electronic Windows®-based census forms, thus easing their reporting
burden.

  The Census Bureau has an Internet help site for businesses
www.census.gov/econhelp. Census Bureau employees also are answering
a toll-free help line [(800) 233-6136] from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, 
Monday through Friday.

  The economic census, taken every five years, is the benchmark for
measuring 96 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. Federal
Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has called the economic census
"indispensable to understanding America's economy."
 
  In addition to federal policy-makers, state and local governments and
businesses use economic census data for planning and developing new
markets.
 
  The 2002 Economic Census features many "firsts," including:


Businesses can report electronically via the Internet;

E-commerce will be measured for all industries;

Information will be provided on business "supply-chain" functions;

Businesses with "leased employees" (those whose payroll is filed 
with the IRS by an employee leasing company, not the company where
their work is performed) will be included;

Data will be shown by North American Product Classification System 
codes, including data for more than 85 service industries not
previously shown;

Direct comparability with North American Industry Classification 
System sectors in the 1997 Economic Census; and

Expanded information on purchased services and customer classes.

  Data on 1,000 industries will be processed during 2003, with the first
results expected in early 2004. The economic census will yield more than
1,600 reports and data products for states, counties, places and some ZIP
codes. Results of the most recent census are available on the Census
Bureau Internet site www.census.gov.