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 BTOS covers all employer businesses except farms and now includes information for multiunit or multilocation businesses.
According to the Census Bureau, “BTOS provides insight into the state of the economy by providing continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. By providing continuous data with geographic and subsector detail, BTOS captures the impact of events like natural disasters and economic crises and assists in monitoring recovery efforts.”
The survey samples about 1.2 million businesses through biweekly collections. These are divided into six panels, each consisting of roughly 200,000 businesses that report every 12 weeks over a year. The Census Bureau notes, “The Census Bureau estimates it takes the average respondent approximately nine minutes to complete the survey, including the time for reviewing the instructions and answers.”
Data from BTOS is released every two weeks and is available by sector, state, and in the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. In November 2025, new questions related to artificial intelligence were added; results from these questions will be published in 2026.
The Census Bureau states that survey results provide essential real-time data to local, state, and federal officials to support policymaking and decision-making. Businesses can also use this information for their own economic planning.
There is no news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
