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 collects information on key economic indicators such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories. It includes multiunit and multilocation businesses but excludes farms.
BTOS provides ongoing data for all employer businesses in the United States, delivering updates every two weeks. This approach allows the survey to capture timely insights into economic trends, including the effects of natural disasters or crises and the progress of recovery efforts.
The BTOS sample comprises about 1.2 million businesses, divided into six panels of approximately 200,000 cases each. Each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes an average respondent about nine minutes to complete the survey.
Data from BTOS will be available biweekly by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The results are intended to help officials at all levels of government with policymaking and decision-making and also provide useful information for businesses making economic choices.
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