The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections on a regular basis. The survey now includes information for businesses with multiple locations.
The BTOS is designed to represent all employer businesses in the United States, except farms. It collects data every two weeks, offering timely insights into key economic measures such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. This approach helps capture the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and supports monitoring recovery efforts.
About 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample. These businesses are divided into six panels of around 200,000 each, with each panel reporting every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes respondents an average of nine minutes to complete the survey.
Survey results will be published biweekly and broken down by sector, state, and the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Local, state, and federal officials use this real-time data for policymaking and decision-making purposes. The information also helps businesses make informed economic decisions.
There was no news release issued with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
