The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey includes data for businesses with multiple locations and aims to complement other economic surveys by collecting information on revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country except farms. The survey provides ongoing, timely updates every two weeks on key economic measures at both geographic and industry levels. This allows for monitoring of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and helps track recovery efforts.
The BTOS sample includes about 1.2 million businesses, with data collected biweekly. Businesses are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each; each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average of nine minutes for respondents to complete the survey.
Survey results are released every two weeks and are available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country. In November 2025, questions related to artificial intelligence were added to the survey; responses will be published in 2026. The data provided by BTOS supports local, state, and federal officials in policymaking and also assists businesses with economic planning.
There is no news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was issued.
