The U.S. Census Bureau has published new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and forecasts across the country. The survey covers all employer businesses in the United States, except for farms, and includes information from multiunit or multilocation companies.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS offers ongoing data about important economic measures such as revenues, employment levels, hours worked, and inventories. This information is collected every two weeks and provides details by sector, state, and the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the nation. By delivering regular updates with geographic and industry breakdowns, BTOS helps capture how events like natural disasters or economic downturns affect businesses and assists in tracking recovery efforts.
The survey draws from a sample of about 1.2 million businesses. These are divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each, with each panel asked to report once every 12 weeks over a year. The agency estimates that it takes respondents about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Officials at local, state, and federal levels use BTOS results to inform policy decisions based on real-time data. Businesses also use this information to help guide their economic planning.
No formal news release accompanied this announcement; instead, it was shared through a tip sheet.
