The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which provides ongoing measurements of business conditions and projections. The survey includes data for businesses with multiple units or locations, complementing information collected by other economic surveys such as those covering revenues, employment, work hours, and inventories.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the United States except farms. It delivers timely data every two weeks on key economic measures, offering detailed insights by geography and industry subsector. This continuous reporting allows the survey to capture the effects of events like natural disasters and economic crises, supporting efforts to monitor recovery.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses participate in the BTOS sample through biweekly data collection. These businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each, with each panel reporting every 12 weeks over a year. The Census Bureau estimates that it takes respondents around nine minutes to complete the survey.
Biweekly releases of BTOS data will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. In November 2025, new questions about artificial intelligence were added to the survey; results from these questions will be published in 2026. The information gathered helps local, state, and federal officials make policy decisions based on real-time economic trends and also supports business decision-making.
There is no separate news release linked to this announcement; it is being provided as a tip sheet only.
