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 survey, which now includes information for multiunit and multilocation businesses, is designed to complement existing economic surveys by collecting data on revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the U.S. economy except farms. It aims to provide a continuous view of key economic indicators by collecting and releasing data every two weeks. This frequent reporting allows for tracking the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to monitor recovery.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These businesses are divided into six panels, each consisting of about 200,000 cases. Each panel reports every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes an average respondent about nine minutes.
Survey results are made available biweekly and can be broken down by sector, state, and among the 25 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. The BTOS added questions related to artificial intelligence on November 17; responses to these questions will be released in 2026. The information gathered helps officials at various levels of government make informed policy decisions and also supports businesses in their planning.
There is no formal news release associated with this announcement; it was distributed as a tip sheet only.
