Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Monthly Inquiry into the Distribution and Services Sector (MIDSS) is designed to meet the Government need for the production of a monthly Index of Services (IoS) and the Index of Distribution (IoD) which is a component of the IoS. Turnover data are collected monthly and, additionally, employment data are collected quarterly. It is used to estimate the change in turnover (and employment) in the service and distribution industries (excluding retail). MIDSS provides 40% of the current turnover data used in the compilation of the IoS and 45% of the data used to estimate the number of employees in the distribution and service industries. Both of these measures are key short-term economic indicators. The MIDSS also provides 30% per cent of the output measure of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and feeds into the income measure of GDP along with other labour market data. There is no other official source of short-term economic data for distribution and service sectors with the comprehensive coverage of the MIDSS. MIDSS covers the following sectors: motor trades, wholesale, hotels and restaurants, transport and postal services (excluding national post activities), renting, computer and related services, research and development, business services (e.g. labour recruitment and accounting), sewage and refuse disposal, recreation, and other services. Linking to other business studies These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Main Topics:

MIDSS covers Turnover and Employment

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Postal survey