The U.S. Census Bureau has released the latest Business Formation Statistics (BFS) for January 2026. The BFS offers updated data on new business applications and formations across the United States and Puerto Rico.
This monthly dataset includes twelve series, covering both business applications and formations, with national, regional, and state-level statistics. For Puerto Rico, four monthly business application series are also included as part of the standard release. The data is available in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted formats.
The BFS is a regular product from the Census Bureau and is developed in partnership with economists from several institutions: “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,” according to a statement from the agency.
There was no formal news release issued alongside this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
