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 United States, excluding farms. The survey is designed to provide timely and continuous information on economic indicators such as revenues, employment, hours worked, and inventories.
BTOS collects data every two weeks from a sample of about 1.2 million businesses. These businesses are divided into six panels, with each panel reporting once every 12 weeks over the course of a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average respondent about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Survey results are published biweekly and offer details by sector, state, and for the 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the country. In November 2025, new questions focusing on artificial intelligence were introduced to BTOS; data from these questions will be available in spring 2026.
According to the Census Bureau, “BTOS provides insight into the state of the economy by providing continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. By providing continuous data with geographic and subsector detail, BTOS captures the impact of events like natural disasters and economic crises and assists in monitoring recovery efforts.”
Officials at various levels of government use this information to inform policy decisions while businesses rely on BTOS findings for their own planning.
There was no separate news release associated with this announcement.
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