Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans announced today that the first data from a new economic indicator series on service industries will be released next week. The data “will help close a critical measurement gap in the U.S. economy,” he said.

     The first estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s new Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) will be released at 10 a.m. on Sept. 13 at the Commerce Department. The initial data will be for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2003 and the first and second quarters of 2004.

     “Today, we have an $11 trillion economy,” Evans said. “Our economy is strong and continues to grow. In order to adequately measure that growth, the measurement of economic data must continue to evolve.”

     Noting that service industries account for nearly 55 percent of the nation’s economic activity, the Census Bureau’s associate director for economic programs, Frederick Knickerbocker, told reporters that the “QSS will initially provide new data for three sectors that account for about 15 percent of the gross domestic product.” The sectors are: information; professional, scientific and technical services; and administrative and support, including employment, services.

     The QSS is the first new economic indicator from the Census Bureau since the 1960s, bringing to 13 the number it produces.

     Advocates for the survey include Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who said the QSS “will give the nation valuable data to support private sector decision-making and public policy.”

     Bob Vastine, president of the Coalition of Service Industries, said the QSS “is an extremely important step in a much-needed, ongoing effort to get a clearer picture of the role services play in the U.S. economy.” We need to know much more about how services are contributing to our economic life, and the Census Bureau’s new survey will help do that.”

     The QSS will produce statistics on total operating revenue and percentage change using the North American Industry Classification System. The first data will include growth areas and industries sensitive to changes in the business cycle such as telecommunications, software publishing, computer system design, the media and employment services.

     The Census Bureau will expand the QSS in 2005 to include hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities.

     Prior to the QSS, measures of service industry output were available only from economic censuses conducted every five years and the Census Bureau’s Service Annual Survey.

     Economic indicators track activity in a variety of components of the U.S. economy and are closely followed in the public and private sectors.

     The initial QSS indicators will be available after 10 a.m. Sept. 13 at <http://www.census.gov/qss>.

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