The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey includes information for businesses with multiple units or locations and gathers data on revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country except farms. It provides timely economic indicators every two weeks, offering detailed insights by geographic area and industry subsector. This approach helps capture the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to monitor recovery.
About 1.2 million businesses participate in the BTOS through a biweekly data collection process. The sample is divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 cases each, with each panel reporting every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes respondents about nine minutes on average.
Survey results are released every two weeks and are available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. These findings provide essential real-time data that assist local, state, and federal officials in policy development and decision-making processes. Businesses also use this information to inform their own economic decisions.
A news release did not accompany this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
