The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections in the United States. The BTOS covers all employer businesses except farms, including those with multiple locations.
The survey collects data on key economic indicators such as revenues, employment, hours worked, and inventories. It is designed to provide timely information every two weeks, offering detailed insights by geography and industry subsector. This ongoing collection allows for monitoring the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and helps track recovery efforts.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each, with each panel asked to report once every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes an average of nine minutes per respondent.
Data from the BTOS will be released biweekly and will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country. New questions focusing on artificial intelligence were introduced on November 17; results from these questions are expected to be published in 2026.
The information collected supports decision-making for local, state, and federal officials as well as business leaders by providing up-to-date economic data.
