The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey on March 26, 2026. The survey collects ongoing information about business conditions and projections, covering topics such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
The release of these data is significant because it provides continuous and timely insights into the state of the U.S. economy outside of farming businesses. The survey offers detailed geographic and subsector information every two weeks, helping to track the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises while supporting monitoring of recovery efforts.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample through biweekly data collection. Businesses are divided into six panels with around 200,000 cases each; each panel reports every twelve weeks for a year. Completing the survey takes an average respondent about nine minutes including reviewing instructions and answers.
BTOS results will be published biweekly by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the country. New questions focusing on artificial intelligence were added on November 17, 2025; their results are expected to be released in Spring 2026.
Survey findings provide essential real-time data that help local, state, and federal officials make policy decisions as well as assist businesses with economic planning.
