The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which tracks business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis. The survey includes information for businesses with multiple locations and is designed to complement other economic surveys by collecting data on revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
The BTOS covers all employer businesses in the United States except farms. It provides continuous and timely data every two weeks, offering detailed insights by geography and industry subsector. This allows the survey to capture the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and helps monitor recovery efforts.
The survey sample consists of about 1.2 million businesses, divided into six panels of roughly 200,000 each. Each panel is surveyed every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, “The Census Bureau estimates it takes the average respondent approximately nine minutes to complete the survey, including the time for reviewing the instructions and answers.”
Data from BTOS will be published biweekly and made available by sector, state, and for the 25 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The results are intended to provide real-time information that supports decision-making at local, state, and federal levels. “Survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making,” according to the Census Bureau. The data also help businesses make informed economic decisions.
There was no separate news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
