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 covers all employer businesses except farms, including those with multiple locations.
The BTOS is designed to provide continuous and timely economic data every two weeks, offering detailed insights by geographic area and industry subsector. This approach 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, divided into six panels of about 200,000 each. Each panel reports once every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes respondents an average of nine minutes.
Survey results are released biweekly and are available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. New questions regarding artificial intelligence were added on November 17, with results expected in 2026. The data provided by BTOS helps local, state, and federal officials make informed policy decisions and also assists businesses in their economic planning.
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