The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on March 12. The survey measures business conditions and projections, providing ongoing information about key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
The BTOS is designed to represent all employer businesses in the United States economy except farms. It offers continuous and timely data every two weeks, giving insight into the state of the economy with detailed geographic and subsector breakdowns. This approach allows the survey to capture the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and helps monitor recovery efforts.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample, with biweekly data collection. These businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each; each panel reports every twelve weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average respondent around nine minutes to complete the survey, including time spent reviewing instructions and answers.
Data from BTOS will be released every two weeks by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. New questions focusing on artificial intelligence were added on November 17, 2025; results from these questions are expected to be available in spring 2026. The survey’s findings provide essential real-time data for local, state, and federal officials to support policymaking and decision-making processes. Businesses also use this information when making economic decisions.
No separate news release accompanied this announcement; it was distributed as a tip sheet only.
