The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on March 26. The survey provides ongoing measurements of business conditions and projections, complementing other economic surveys by collecting information such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
BTOS is designed to represent all employer businesses in the United States economy except for farms. The survey offers timely data every two weeks with detailed geographic and subsector breakdowns. This continuous reporting allows BTOS to capture the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and helps monitor recovery efforts.
The sample for BTOS includes about 1.2 million businesses, which are divided into six panels of approximately 200,000 cases each. Each panel is asked to report every twelve weeks over a year-long period. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average respondent about nine minutes to complete the survey after reviewing instructions and answers.
Survey results are released biweekly and can be broken down by sector, state, and the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. New questions related to artificial intelligence were added on November 17, 2025; their results will be available in Spring 2026. The collected information supports local, state, and federal officials in policymaking while also helping businesses make informed economic decisions.
There was no separate news release associated with this announcement; it was distributed as a tip sheet.
