The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which provides ongoing measurements of business conditions and projections across the United States. The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country, with the exception of farms, and now includes information for multiunit or multilocation businesses.
The survey collects data every two weeks on topics such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. According to the Census Bureau, this frequent reporting allows for timely insights into key economic indicators at both geographic and subsector levels. The continuous nature of BTOS data collection helps track the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and supports monitoring recovery efforts.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses participate in the BTOS sample. These are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each, with each panel asked to report every 12 weeks over a year. On average, respondents spend about nine minutes completing the survey.
BTOS results are published biweekly and broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. In November 2025, new questions related to artificial intelligence were added to the survey; findings from these questions will be released in 2026. The Census Bureau notes that “survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making.” The information is also intended to help businesses make informed economic decisions.
There was no accompanying news release with this announcement; it was distributed as a tip sheet only.
