The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), an ongoing survey that tracks business conditions and projections across the United States. The BTOS includes information for businesses with multiple locations and continues to gather data on key economic indicators such as revenue, employment, hours worked, and inventory levels.
The survey covers all employer businesses in the country except farms. It provides timely updates every two weeks on important economic measures, offering detailed geographic and industry-specific insights. This approach allows the BTOS to reflect how events like natural disasters or economic downturns affect different sectors and regions, helping officials monitor recovery efforts.
About 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These businesses are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, with each panel asked to respond every 12 weeks over a year-long period. According to the Census Bureau, it takes respondents about nine minutes on average to complete the survey.
Results from the BTOS are published biweekly and are broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas. New questions focusing on artificial intelligence were added on November 17; responses to these will be released in 2026. The data collected helps local, state, and federal leaders make informed policy decisions and also assists businesses in their planning.
There is no separate news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
