The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), a program designed to measure ongoing business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey covers all employer businesses in the country, except for farms, and now includes information on multiunit or multilocation businesses.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS collects and reports data every two weeks on key economic measures such as revenues, employment levels, hours worked, and inventories. The sample includes about 1.2 million businesses divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, with each panel asked to report every 12 weeks over a year. On average, respondents spend approximately nine minutes completing the survey.
Data from BTOS are released biweekly and broken down by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. This continuous reporting provides officials at all government levels with timely information for policymaking and decision-making. Businesses can also use these insights for their own economic planning.
The Census Bureau states that by offering ongoing geographic and industry-specific detail, BTOS helps capture the effects of significant events like natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to monitor recovery.
No formal news release accompanied this announcement; it was issued as a tip sheet only.
