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Measuring the Transformation of Retail Trade and Related Activities

Completed

A panel will review recent changes in retail trade and assess how they affect measures of employment and productivity in retail-related industries. The panel will consider whether a special account in the national accounts (a “satellite account”) could be designed to capture this retail transformation better than current measures by adding data from related industries, such as warehousing and trucking. The panel will hold a public workshop and produce a consensus report with conclusions about the value of a satellite account for retail and possible improvements for measuring employment, hours, and productivity in retail-related industries.

Description

The Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shall appoint an ad hoc panel to review the issues related to measuring employment and productivity in retail-related industries for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the U.S. Department of Labor. The expert panel shall evaluate changes in the retail trade landscape and assess how they are impacting measures of employment and productivity in retail-related industries and determine if, and how, a satellite account can be designed to capture this retail transformation. The panel shall carefully review the existing measures as well as the methodological issues surrounding measurement of these concepts. As part of its information-gathering activities, the panel shall hold a public workshop to discuss the views of industry experts, academics doing work in related fields, and data users. The panel shall produce a consensus report, which shall include conclusions and recommendations for BLS on 1) the value and specifications for a satellite account for the retail-related sector, 2) ways to identify the proportion of output, employment and hours outside of retail trade that are directed toward supporting retail trade, and 3) ways to maintain a retail-related satellite account.

Collaborators

Committee

Chair

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

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Member

Sponsors

Department of Labor

Staff

Brian Harris-Kojetin

Lead

Stuart Elliott

Lead

Nancy Kirkendall

Lead

Ellis Grimes

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