
The Business Formation Statistics (BFS) are an experimental data product of the U.S. Census Bureau developed in research collaboration with economists affiliated with
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, University of Maryland, and University of Notre Dame. The BFS provide
timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States. More information on Census Bureau Experimental Data products can
be found
here.
NEW Click
here to view Annual County Business Applications.
Weekly Data
Business Applications, Not Seasonally Adjusted data will be provided weekly at the national, regional, and state levels for a limited time.
Due to quality concerns, Business Applications combined weeks 52 and 53 data was released on January 7, 2021. The Week 52 data that ended
on December 26, 2020 and released on December 30, 2020 is being revised to now include the Week 53 data. With this revision, Week 52 now covers
December 20, 2020 - January 2, 2021. Data is available in the csv files and data visualization below. For help with using the files, please visit the
BFS Weekly Data Dictionary
and the week date csv file.
- Not Adjusted U.S. Business Applications: CSV [41KB]
- Not Adjusted Regional Business Applications: CSV [168KB]
- Not Adjusted State Business Applications: CSV [1849KB]
Quarterly Report
The Fourth Quarter 2020 Business Formation Statistics Report was
released on January 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m., and available as:
- Latest Report: PDF [869KB]
Business Application Time Series:
- 2004Q3 - present (Adjusted and Not Adjusted)
Excel [74kb]
Time Series/Trend Charts: Use this link to access all Business Application series and Business Formation Series at both U.S. and State levels to create
customizable time series. For detailed instructions on using this Time Series/Trend Charts
application, please visit the
Technical Documentation.
Annual County Data
Business Applications by County data will be provided annually.
Business Applications data by county for 2005-2019 were
released on November 10, 2020 and are available in the Excel file and data visualization below. For help with using the file,
please visit the BFS County Data Dictionary.
- Business Applications by County: Excel [367KB]