The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) on March 26. The BTOS measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis, providing information that complements other economic surveys.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the United States except farms, offering continuous and timely data for key economic indicators every two weeks. This frequent reporting helps capture the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and assists officials in monitoring recovery efforts.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample, with biweekly data collection. These businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each, which report every twelve weeks for a year. The average time to complete the survey is estimated at nine minutes per respondent.
Data from the BTOS will be available by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. New questions regarding artificial intelligence were added to the survey on November 17, 2025; results from these questions are expected to be released in spring 2026.
Survey findings provide local, state, and federal officials with real-time information needed for policymaking and decision-making processes. Businesses can also use this information when making their own economic decisions.
