The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and future projections on a regular basis. The survey covers multiunit and multilocation businesses, providing information that complements other economic surveys by including details such as revenues, employee numbers, hours worked, and inventories.
BTOS is designed to represent all employer businesses in the United States except for farms. The survey provides ongoing data every two weeks, offering timely insights into key economic indicators. By collecting continuous data with geographic and industry-specific detail, BTOS helps capture the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to monitor recovery.
The BTOS sample includes about 1.2 million businesses, divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each. Each panel reports every 12 weeks over a year-long period. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes an average respondent about nine minutes.
Survey results are released biweekly and can be accessed by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country. In November 2025, new questions related to artificial intelligence were added; those results will be available in 2026. The information collected assists officials at various levels of government with policymaking decisions and also helps businesses make informed economic choices.
There is no news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
