Simonson Says: Your Opinion Counts at Census, BLS

The construction industry now has an additional way of bringing government data issues to the attention of top officials. The director of the U.S. Census Bureau recently appointed me to a three-year term on the Census Scientific Advisory Committee. This 18-member panel twice a year meets for a day and a half with the director and the full leadership team of the agency, and also engages in vigorous online discussions with relevant officials. The Bureau is best known, of course, for the population census it conducts every 10 years, along with many other demographic surveys, projections and studies. In addition, the agency puts out a variety of monthly, quarterly and annual reports on business, such as the monthly estimate of “value put in place,” or construction spending. Many contractors may have filled out progress reports on individual projects to build these estimates, or answered the 2012 Census of Construction, which will shortly provide a detailed snapshot of the scope of the industry in each state. I am also a member of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’s Data Users Advisory Committee, which is appointed by the commissioner of labor statistics. That panel meets twice a year for a day with her and the heads of major BLS programs, such as the divisions responsible for producer price indexes and national, state and metro employment estimates. A third route for informing and, perhaps, influencing statistical directors and policy makers comes through my role as a director and immediate past president of the National Association for Business Economics. I and other directors will be meeting next month with the Census director, BLS commissioner, and chief statistician of the U.S. government (a White House official). The next day, we will meet with members of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. AGC is the only construction organization, and one of the few trade associations, at any of these meetings. I have used past meetings to press for publication of more useful data, and the agencies have responded favorably, within the constraints of their confidentiality rules and budgets. For instance, BLS has begun publishing a separate producer price index for health care structures, in addition to previously published indexes for warehouse, school, industrial and office buildings. From calls and emails I receive each month, it is clear additional detail is helpful to many contractors, and I have encouraged BLS to develop other price indexes. The Census Bureau now publishes on the front page of its monthly release separate data on single-family and multifamily construction spending, providing a much clearer picture of the distinct trends for the types of structures AGC members produce. I hope to get Census to break out other series as well. Some of the appointees to these advisory committees hold high positions in other state or national organizations, which means AGC is reaching other audiences besides the meeting attendees. For example, last Friday the governor of Florida tweeted the news that his state led the nation in construction employment gains—information I had sent his representative on the BLS advisory committee. Whether your interest is in a particular data source or the way agencies collect information from your firm, these memberships offer a rare opportunity to have input at the highest level. Don’t be shy about sending me your ideas, hopes and complaints at simonsonk@agc.org!