BUSINESSES URGED TO SEND ECONOMIC CENSUS

Fast-food restaurants, called "refreshment places" in census reports, made up about 29 percent of eating places in 1972. Twenty years later, in 1992, they accounted for 44 percent of restaurants in the U.S.

That total may be up this year.

The U.S. Bureau of Census can provide that information and more when results of the five-year Economic Census -- 1993-1997 -- are compiled.

The Census Bureau measures the nation's economic activity and helps pinpoint trends in economic growth every five years.

Forms for the latest census have been late coming in. The Census Bureau this week reminded business owners that they are required by law to complete and return their 1997 Economic Census forms. They were due Feb. 12.

Questionnaires were mailed last December to more than 5 million American businesses -- 1,700 in Cape Girardeau County.

"Although many forms are late, they're not too late," said Robert A. Marske of the Census Bureau's economic planning staff in Washington, D.C. "Businesses can do it now."

Most people can complete the form in about an hour, said Marske. The form isn't sent to businesses with fewer than five employees, he pointed out.

The first report of the census will be ready in about a year, said Marske.

The quicker businesses respond the quicker the Census Bureau can compile the data and provide information for people to use, said Marske.

"If businesses have any questions they can call for help," said Marske. The toll-free number is 1-800-233-6136.

The Economic Census is important to business and industry, local governments, economic development agencies and chambers of commerce, he said.

The latest survey is the most ambitious to date," said Marske. "It will be the first published entirely on the Internet."

The census is confidential, said Marske. "Business responses are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. No business competitors can obtain the individual data," he said.

The census information includes numbers of employees, payroll and value of goods and services.

"The census will provide a soup-to-nuts outlook on the entire U.S. economy," said Marske. "It will be a thorough review of what the economic picture was like for 1997, state-by-state and sector-by-sector."

For instance, the 1992 survey revealed that the consumer price index rose 23.5 percent between 1987 and 1992.

The survey also showed:

-- The number of drive-in theaters dropped by 47 percent between 1987 and 1992. The drive-in movies now account for less than 10 percent of all theaters nationwide. The less than 600 drive-in theaters -- 74 in California -- make up fewer than 10 percent of the more than 6,500 total movie theaters in the U.S.

-- Sales of golf balls soared 211 percent between 1987 an 1992, from $161.2 million to $501.8 million.

-- About 60 percent of the $3.24 trillion in wholesale sales went to retailers, importers and exporters for resale in 1992. The other 40 percent went to end-users. Also in 1992, wholesalers averaged almost $10 in inventory for every dollar in sales.

-- Construction activity on new buildings totaled about $216 billion in 1992. The figure for 1997 will surpass $325 billion.