The U.S. Census Bureau has released its latest Business Formation Statistics (BFS) for August 2025. The BFS offers monthly updates on new business applications and formations across the United States, providing both seasonally adjusted and nonseasonally adjusted data at the national, regional, and state levels.
This data product is a result of collaboration between the Census Bureau and economists from several institutions, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the University of Maryland, and the University of Notre Dame.
In addition to its standard release, the Census Bureau has published Monthly Puerto Rico Business Applications. This experimental dataset applies the same methodology as existing BFS reports to track four series of monthly business applications in Puerto Rico.
According to the Census Bureau: “The BFS provide timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States.” The agency further stated: “The BFS are a standard data product of the Census Bureau, developed in research collaboration with economists affiliated with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the University of Maryland, and the University of Notre Dame.”
There was no formal news release issued with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
