Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Hurricane Katrina's Effect on Sales and Inventories of
The Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey
August 2005
What was the effect of Hurricane Katrina on U.S. total wholesale sales and inventories for August?
We cannot quantify the effect of Hurricane Katrina on the August 2005 wholesale sales and inventories as the Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey (MWTS) measures wholesale activity on a national level and not at specific geographic areas.
The areas affected by the hurricane ordinarily account for a minimal percentage of total U.S. wholesale activity based on the 2002 Economic Census. Furthermore, the effect of Hurricane Katrina on wholesale activity at the national level for August would be much less since Hurricane Katrina only impacted the last few days of August. See http://www.census.gov/econ/www/Katrina.htm for data from the 2002 Economic Census for the areas affected by the Hurricane Katrina.How does the survey account for businesses affected by the hurricane?
Large companies with multiple locations are asked to report total U. S. sales and inventories for all wholesale locations, including locations in the affected areas. Most companies located in the affected areas had no difficulty reporting this month. MWTS accounts for missing data through its imputation procedure. This procedure makes use of data from companies that report both July and August data.
Was Census able to collect information from businesses located within the areas impacted in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama?
We mailed questionnaires to 66 firms in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and 64 were able to provide data for August.
Did you change your data collection procedures this month?
Yes. Our data collection staff asked additional questions with regard to the impact of Hurricane Katrina on sales and inventories as part of our regular follow-up.
Do you have monthly estimates of sales and inventories for the affected areas?
No. We can not separately quantify
the impact on the affected areas because the MWTS is designed to estimate for
sales and inventories at the United States level only.
Did you alter the seasonal adjustment options for August?
No. The review of the seasonal adjustment output and diagnostics did not indicate that adjustments to the options were necessary for August.
How did you represent the August end-of-month inventories for companies that had inventories damaged or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Katrina?
Companies report inventories based
on their financial records. Any adjustments to reflect the effects of the hurricane
(such as a write-down) will be included in our data when companies reflect it
on their records. Our review of the data reported by companies for August shows
no significant write-downs to end-of-month inventories. Based on discussions
with over 1,000 respondents, fewer than 2% of companies indicated that they
had inventories damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. None of them reported
any write-downs for August. Most expected a write-down would occur, but were
uncertain as to when it would be reflected on their records.
What do you plan to do for estimates of wholesale trade for September?
During our data collection we will
continue to ask questions that will help us monitor any impact from Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita as part of our regular follow-up. We will monitor data responses
and make adjustments if necessary.
Source: U. S. Census Bureau
Service Sector Statistics Division
Monthly Wholesale Trade
Last Revised: October 6, 2005
