The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), an ongoing effort to measure business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey covers all employer businesses except farms, including those with multiple locations.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS provides continuous and timely data every two weeks on key economic measures such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. The information is designed to help track economic changes, including the effects of natural disasters or economic crises, and monitor recovery efforts.
The survey samples about 1.2 million businesses nationwide. These are divided into six panels of approximately 200,000 businesses each. Each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year-long period. The Census Bureau estimates that it takes an average respondent about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Data from BTOS will be released biweekly and broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country. The results are intended to provide local, state, and federal officials with real-time information to support policy decisions. Businesses can also use this data when making their own economic choices.
“No news release associated with this announcement. Tip sheet only,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
