The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on March 26, which measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis.
The BTOS provides important insight into the state of the U.S. economy by delivering continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. The survey covers all employer businesses in the country except farms, offering details at both geographic and subsector levels to help monitor economic trends, including responses to natural disasters and crises.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample, with biweekly data collection divided among six panels of about 200,000 cases each. Each selected business is asked to report every twelve weeks for a year. The average time needed to complete the survey is estimated at nine minutes per respondent.
Data from BTOS will be released biweekly and made available by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. New questions regarding artificial intelligence were added on November 17, 2025; results from these questions are expected in spring 2026.
Survey results provide essential real-time information that assists local, state, and federal officials in policymaking as well as helping businesses make informed economic decisions.
