The Business Trends and Outlook Survey provides high-frequency, nationally representative data on U.S. employer businesses. The survey provides local, state, and federal officials near real-time data for policy and decision-making including after natural disasters or during economic crises. The BTOS also provides insights into business recovery after these events. 

The BTOS sample consists of approximately 1.2 million businesses split into six panels (approximately 200,000 cases per panel). Businesses in each panel are asked to report once every 12 weeks over the course of one year. Data collection occurs every two weeks. The BTOS is comprised of a set of core questions and supplemental content, which is added as needed.

The BTOS collects information on a broad range of business conditions. Topics include current performance, changes in revenue, employment, hours worked, demand, and prices. For most concepts, businesses are asked about the previous two weeks and for a 6-month outlook. Data collected from September 11, 2023 to present include all employer businesses (single location and multi-location) in the U.S. economy, excluding farms.

BTOS data are released every two weeks and are available by 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sector, by state and for the 25 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Additional tabulations are available by three-digit NAICS subsector and by state and sector. Data released after September 2023 are also available by expanded employment size classes.

October 13, 2022