The U.S. Coalition of Services Industries has awarded the U.S. Census Bureau’s Service Sector Statistics Division the prestigious Harry Freeman Award for “exceptional contributions to understanding the nation’s service economy.” The award recognizes the division’s work in developing the new Quarterly Services Survey (QSS), <http://www.census.gov/qss> the Census Bureau’s first new economic indicator in more than 40 years.

     The first results from the QSS were released <http://www.census.gov/qss> Sept.13, with data for three sectors: information; professional, scientific and technical services; and administrative and support, including employment services. These sectors account for 15 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).

     The Census Bureau will expand the QSS in 2005 to include hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities. Further expansion will require additional funding. 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.

     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.”

     Harry Freeman, founder and former president of the coalition and currently chairman of the Mark Twain Institute, expressed strong support for continued improvements in service statistics. “If the Census Bureau is provided an additional $4 million in this year’s budget, we can finish the job of improving service statistics that was started over 20 years ago,” Freeman said.

     Funding requested in the 2005 budget would expand the QSS by adding four sectors with annual coverage of finance, insurance, real estate and utilities industries that account for more than 20 percent of gross domestic product, and currently are measured only once every five years.

     In accepting the Freeman award on behalf of the Census Bureau Oct. 5, Tom Mesenbourg, assistant director for economic programs, praised the Coalition of Service Industries and its membership “for its unwavering support of the Census Bureau’s service statistics programs” and thanked all the individual service businesses that are participating in the QSS.

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