The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which measures ongoing business conditions and projections across the United States. The survey covers multiunit and multilocation businesses, collecting information on revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
According to the Census Bureau, BTOS data represent all employer businesses in the country except for farms. The survey provides continuous and timely economic data every two weeks with geographic and subsector detail. This approach helps capture the effects of events such as natural disasters or economic crises and supports monitoring of recovery efforts.
The BTOS sample includes about 1.2 million businesses. These are divided into six panels of approximately 200,000 cases each, with each panel asked to report every 12 weeks over a year. The agency estimates that it takes an average respondent nine minutes to complete the survey.
Data will be released biweekly by sector, state, and for the 25 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. According to the Census Bureau, “Survey results give local, state and federal officials essential, real-time data to aid in policymaking and decision-making. In addition, the information aids businesses in making economic decisions.”
There is no news release associated with this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.