The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey, which includes information from multiunit and multilocation businesses, aims to complement other economic surveys by collecting ongoing data on revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country except for farms. Its biweekly reporting schedule provides continuous and timely insights into key economic measures. According to the Census Bureau, this frequent data collection helps monitor how events such as natural disasters or economic crises affect businesses and supports recovery efforts.
About 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 cases each, with each panel asked to respond every 12 weeks over a year-long period. The agency estimates that it takes an average of nine minutes for respondents to complete the survey.
Survey results are released every two weeks and can be broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. On November 17, new questions about artificial intelligence were added to the survey; data from these questions will be available in 2026.
According to the Census Bureau, “Survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making. In addition, the information aids businesses in making economic decisions.”
There is no news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
