The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey, designed to complement existing economic surveys, includes information from multiunit and multilocation businesses.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS covers all employer businesses in the U.S. economy except for farms. The survey aims to provide continuous and timely data on important economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories every two weeks. By offering regular updates with geographic and industry-specific details, BTOS can help track how events like natural disasters or economic downturns affect businesses and monitor recovery progress.
The BTOS sample consists of about 1.2 million businesses participating in biweekly data collection cycles. Businesses are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, with each panel reporting every 12 weeks over a one-year period. Completing the survey takes an estimated nine minutes per respondent.
Biweekly results will be made available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country. In addition to existing questions, new items focusing on artificial intelligence were added on November 17; findings related to these questions are scheduled for release in 2026. The survey provides local, state, and federal officials with real-time data needed for policy decisions while also helping businesses make informed choices.
There is no news release associated with this announcement; it is distributed as a tip sheet only.
