The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on March 12, which measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis.
The BTOS provides important information about the state of the U.S. economy by offering continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. The survey covers all employer businesses in the country except farms, giving officials and businesses insight into trends such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
According to the Census Bureau, the BTOS sample includes about 1.2 million businesses that participate in biweekly data collection. These businesses are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, with each panel asked to report every twelve weeks over a year. The agency estimates it takes respondents about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Data from BTOS will be released biweekly and made available by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. In addition to standard questions, new items focusing on artificial intelligence were added in November 2025 and are expected to be released in spring 2026.
Survey results provide local, state, and federal officials with real-time data that can help guide policymaking and decision-making processes. Businesses also use this information to inform their own economic decisions.
