Census Bureau Alerts Industry Businesses On Economic Survey

The U.S. Census Bureau has launched a web site business.census.gov to help businesses understand the economic census and how it benefits them. More than

The U.S. Census Bureau has launched a web site Û business.census.gov Û to help businesses understand the economic census and how it benefits them. More than four million U.S. businesses, including 130,000 in the construction industry, will be targeted in the nation’s most comprehensive survey of private or publicly held entities, with initial mailings beginning December 2007.

Every five years, the Economic Census develops a wide-ranging portrait of American business, encompassing the national to local level. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls the Economic Census indispensable to understanding America’s economy.

While timely and accurate data are vital to effective public policy, the Census Bureau acknowledges the burden on respondents to report their business operations; however, the staff affirms commitment to making information available that enables informed business decisions. Company owners can use benchmark values from the economic census to assess where they stand in the marketplace and to research market shares, salaries, product and sales trends, as well as site locations.