The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), which collects information about business conditions and future expectations in the United States. The survey now includes data for businesses with more than one location.
BTOS covers all employer businesses in the country, except farms. The survey provides ongoing, timely data on important economic indicators every two weeks, including revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. This regular reporting helps capture how events such as natural disasters or economic downturns affect businesses and supports efforts to track recovery.
The BTOS sample is made up of about 1.2 million businesses. These are divided into six groups of around 200,000 each, with each group asked to respond every 12 weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, completing the survey takes an average of nine minutes per respondent.
Results from BTOS are released biweekly and broken down by industry sector, state, and the largest metropolitan areas. The information gives officials at different levels of government real-time data that can help guide policy decisions. Businesses can also use this information when making their own plans.
There was no news release issued alongside this announcement; only a tip sheet was provided.
