The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the country. The survey covers multiunit and multilocation businesses, offering information that complements other economic surveys by tracking revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS data represent all employer businesses in the United States except for farms. The survey is designed to provide continuous and timely updates on key economic indicators every two weeks. This regular reporting helps capture the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to monitor recovery.
The BTOS sample includes about 1.2 million businesses that participate in biweekly data collection. These are divided into six panels of approximately 200,000 cases each, with each panel asked to report every 12 weeks over a year. The agency estimates that it takes an average respondent nine minutes to complete the survey.
Data from BTOS will be released every two weeks and will be available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Results from the survey are intended to help officials at various levels of government make informed policy decisions based on real-time information. Businesses can also use these insights when making their own economic choices.
There is no separate news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
