Economic census begins in Tri-parishes

The U.S Census Bureau is sending out 2007 Economic Census forms to around 3,100 businesses in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

The forms must be returned to the Census Bureau by Feb. 12, 2008.

The Economic Census provides official measures of manufacturing and business output for specific geographic areas.

Much of the information cannot be gathered in other ways. Business surveys involve only samples.

The bureau conducts the census during years ending in a two or seven.

“The information is so important,” said bureau spokesman Robert Marske. “It’s an updated measure of the economy. It provides a reference measure for industry and the resource flows between industry.”

Unlike the decennial U.S. population survey, the Economic Census must be taken every five years both to compile more current statistics and to avoid experiencing an information overload every 10 years, Marske said.

“We get a detailed shot,” he said. “It’s a valuable tool at the national level and it provides local area performance.”

Marske said entrepreneurs can use the information to better understand the needs of their communities.

The statistics are part of the information that goes into calculating the nation’s gross domestic product.

Businesses with five or more employees will be surveyed. The bureau does not send forms to religious institutions or businesses having no employees.

The nation’s agricultural sector is surveyed separately.

In the 2002 Economic Census, Houma-Thibodaux showed sales and receipt figures between $1 and $2 billion individually for the retail trade, the wholesale trade and manufacturing.

The retail trade had 11,737 employees while manufacturing employed 6,491, according to the census.

The bureau’s Web site can be accessed at business.census.gov for more details, or call 1-877-790-1876.