Why is the Quarterly Services Survey (QSS) conducted?
The Quarterly Services Survey was established in 2004. Previously, the Census Bureau had conducted 12 indicator surveys, including monthly series covering retail and wholesale trade; manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders; residential construction; and merchandise trade; and a quarterly series on corporate profits. These indicator series track current economic activity, and are closely followed and widely used by policy makers in the public and private sectors. Until the QSS, no economic indicator had existed for the services sector despite its importance and increasing share of total economic activity. Excluding retail and wholesale trade, nearly 55 percent of all economic activity is accounted for by services. Measures of service industry output previously were available only from the five-year economic census and on an annual basis from the Service Annual Survey (SAS). Reliable measures of current economic activity are essential to an objective assessment of the need for,
