The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey on March 12, 2026. The survey measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis, collecting information such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
The Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) provides timely insight into the state of the U.S. economy by offering continuous data every two weeks for key economic measures. The survey covers all employer businesses in the country except farms, allowing officials to monitor economic changes at both geographic and subsector levels. This helps capture the effects of events like natural disasters or economic crises and supports efforts to track recovery.
Approximately 1.2 million businesses are included in the BTOS sample, with biweekly data collection. These businesses are divided into six panels of about 200,000 each; each panel is asked to report every twelve weeks over a year. According to the Census Bureau, it takes respondents about nine minutes on average to complete the survey, including time spent reviewing instructions and answers.
Data from BTOS will be released every two weeks and made available by sector, state, and for the twenty-five most populous metropolitan statistical areas. New questions regarding artificial intelligence were added on November 17, 2025; results from these questions are expected to be released in spring 2026.
Survey results provide essential real-time data that help local, state, and federal officials make informed policy decisions. Businesses also use this information when making their own economic choices.