The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which provides ongoing information about business conditions and future projections in the United States. The survey covers multiunit and multilocation businesses, gathering information that complements other economic surveys by including details on revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
The BTOS is designed to represent all employer businesses in the country except farms. It delivers continuous and timely data every two weeks for important economic indicators. By offering frequent updates with geographic and industry-specific detail, the survey helps measure the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic downturns and supports efforts to track recovery.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. Data collection occurs biweekly, with selected businesses divided into six panels of about 200,000 each; each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. The Census Bureau estimates that it takes respondents around nine minutes to complete the survey.
Results from the BTOS are released every two weeks and are available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. In November 2025, new questions related to artificial intelligence were added to the survey; results from these questions will be published in 2026. The information collected assists officials at all levels of government with policymaking and decision-making while also helping businesses make informed economic choices.
According to the Census Bureau, “BTOS provides insight into the state of the economy by providing continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks.” The agency further notes that “survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making.”
There is no separate news release associated with this announcement; it was issued as a tip sheet only.
