The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the country. The survey now includes information from businesses with multiple units or locations.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS covers all employer businesses in the United States except for farms. It offers continuous and timely updates on key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories every two weeks. The data is designed to help track economic events like natural disasters or crises and monitor recovery efforts by providing geographic and industry-specific details.
The BTOS sample consists of about 1.2 million businesses divided into six panels, each with roughly 200,000 cases. These panels are surveyed every 12 weeks over a year-long period. On average, respondents spend about nine minutes completing the survey.
Results from BTOS will be released biweekly and broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the nation. This information supports local, state, and federal officials in policymaking as well as helping businesses make informed decisions.
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