The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections in the United States. The BTOS covers all employer businesses except farms and includes data from multiunit or multilocation companies.
The survey collects key economic indicators such as revenues, employment, hours worked, and inventories. Data are collected biweekly from a sample of about 1.2 million businesses, divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 cases each. Each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average respondent approximately nine minutes to complete the survey.
BTOS data are published every two weeks and are broken down by sector, state, and the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The survey aims to provide continuous and timely insights that can reflect the impact of events like natural disasters or economic crises on business activity. This information is intended to support local, state, and federal officials in policy decisions and help businesses make informed economic choices.
New questions related to artificial intelligence were added on November 17; responses will be available in 2026.
“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,” according to the Census Bureau.
There was no formal news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
