The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on April 9. The survey provides ongoing measurements of business conditions and projections, collecting information that complements other economic surveys, including revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
BTOS offers a continuous view of the state of the economy by providing timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. This allows policymakers to monitor the impact of events such as natural disasters or economic crises in real time and track recovery efforts across different regions and industries.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS covers all employer businesses in the United States except farms. The sample includes about 1.2 million businesses divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 cases each. Each panel is surveyed every twelve weeks over a year-long period. On average, respondents spend approximately nine minutes completing the survey.
Data from BTOS are released biweekly with breakdowns available by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. In addition to existing topics, new questions about artificial intelligence were introduced on November 17, 2025; results from these questions are expected to be published in spring 2026.
The information gathered helps local, state, and federal officials make informed policy decisions while also supporting businesses as they navigate changing economic conditions.
