The U.S. Census Bureau has published new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey covers multiunit and multilocation businesses, providing information that complements other economic surveys by collecting data on revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
The BTOS represents all employer businesses in the country except for farms. It is designed to offer continuous, timely updates on key economic indicators every two weeks. The survey delivers detailed geographic and industry-specific insights, allowing for assessment of how events such as natural disasters or economic crises affect businesses and supporting efforts to monitor recovery.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These are divided into six panels of about 200,000 cases each, with participants asked to report every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes an average respondent around nine minutes.
Biweekly data releases will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The results are intended to provide local, state, and federal officials with real-time information for policy decisions while also helping businesses make informed economic choices.
There is no accompanying news release; this announcement was distributed as a tip sheet only.
