The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on April 9. The BTOS is an ongoing survey that measures business conditions and projections across the United States, excluding farms.
The BTOS provides continuous, timely information about key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. This regular reporting offers insight into how businesses are faring in different sectors and regions of the country.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS data are representative of all employer businesses in the U.S. economy except for farms. The survey collects biweekly responses from a sample of approximately 1.2 million businesses divided into six panels of about 200,000 each; each panel reports every twelve weeks over a yearlong period. On average, it takes respondents about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Survey results are made available every two weeks by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. In November 2025, new questions regarding artificial intelligence were added to the survey; these findings will be released in spring 2026.
The information collected through BTOS assists local, state, and federal officials with real-time data for policymaking and decision-making while also helping businesses make informed economic decisions.
