The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which monitors business conditions and projections across the United States. The BTOS gathers information from multiunit and multilocation businesses, providing details on metrics such as revenues, employment, hours worked, and inventories.
The survey covers all employer businesses in the U.S. economy except for farms. Its continuous data collection every two weeks offers timely insights into key economic measures, including detailed breakdowns by geography and industry subsector. This approach enables the survey to track the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and helps officials monitor recovery efforts.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses participate in the BTOS sample, divided into six panels of about 200,000 each. Each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. The Census Bureau estimates that it takes an average of nine minutes for respondents to complete the survey.
Data releases will occur biweekly and will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Starting November 17, new questions about artificial intelligence were added to the survey; responses to these questions are scheduled for release in 2026.
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.”
Survey results are designed to support local, state, and federal officials with real-time data for policymaking decisions while also assisting businesses with their own economic planning.
There was no formal news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
