The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections across the country. The survey now includes information for businesses with multiple locations.
The BTOS collects ongoing data on key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. The survey is designed to provide timely updates every two weeks, offering detailed insights by geography and industry subsector. This continuous reporting allows the BTOS to reflect the effects of events like natural disasters or economic downturns and helps monitor recovery efforts.
Approximately 1.2 million employer businesses participate in the biweekly survey, excluding farms. Businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each; each panel reports once every 12 weeks over a year. Completing the survey takes an average of nine minutes per respondent.
Results from the BTOS are released every two weeks and are available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. These results provide essential real-time data for officials at all levels of government to support policy decisions and help businesses plan their activities.
There was no news release issued with this announcement; it was distributed as a tip sheet only.
