The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections in the United States. The survey now includes information from businesses with multiple locations, expanding its coverage.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country except farms. The survey provides updates every two weeks on key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. This frequent reporting allows for timely tracking of economic changes at both geographic and industry levels. It also helps monitor how events like natural disasters or economic crises affect businesses and supports efforts to track recovery.
About 1.2 million businesses are part of the BTOS sample, with data collected biweekly. These businesses are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, and each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. The agency estimates that completing the survey takes about nine minutes per respondent.
Results from BTOS will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country. New questions related to artificial intelligence were added on November 17; responses to these questions will be published in 2026. According to the Census Bureau, “Survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making. In addition, the information aids businesses in making economic decisions.”
There is no formal news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
