The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), an ongoing survey that measures business conditions and projections. The BTOS now includes information for multiunit and multilocation businesses, providing additional insight into economic activity across the country.
The survey gathers data from approximately 1.2 million employer businesses, excluding farms, with biweekly collection cycles. These businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each, with each panel reporting every 12 weeks throughout the year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes respondents an average of nine minutes to complete the survey.
BTOS data offers continuous updates on key economic measures such as revenues, employees, hours worked, and inventories. By delivering frequent and detailed geographic and industry-level information every two weeks, BTOS helps track the effects of events like natural disasters or economic downturns while also supporting recovery monitoring efforts.
Survey results are made available by sector, state, and for the 25 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. This information is intended to provide local, state, and federal officials with timely data needed for policymaking and decision-making processes. It also assists businesses in making informed economic decisions.
“BTOS provides insight into the state of the economy by providing continuous, timely data for key economic measures every two weeks. By providing continuous data with geographic and subsector detail, BTOS captures the impact of events like natural disasters and economic crises and assists in monitoring recovery efforts.”
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