Form Draft Core and Sup Draft Core and Sup Draft Core and Supplemental Content (cycle 2)

S ubject to OMB approval // Do Not Circulate // Pre-decisional

Welcome to the Business Trends and Outlook Survey

Content V4

Cycle 2

Revised 02/21/2025

The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting your assistance to produce important data on current economic conditions, as well as the impact on our nation’s economy when natural disasters or other emergencies occur.

Your response is especially important as it helps policy makers, government officials, and businesses like yours understand these effects. Please complete this quick survey; it will take approximately 25 minutes.

The data you provide will be aggregated to create a two-week snapshot of economic activity within the U.S. This survey is not intended to replace more comprehensive surveys that typically require the use of company records.

• Estimates are acceptable and encouraged.

• The survey will take approximately 25 minutes.

• Please include all domestic operations of this consolidated business, including all locations, subsidiaries, and divisions.

For this survey, please provide data for: [Name 1] [Name 2]

1. FOR SINGLE UNITS ONLY Is the Employer Identification Number (EIN) used on this business’s latest Internal Revenue Service Form 941, Employer's Federal Quarterly Tax Return?

• Yes

• No

If no, please provide EIN:

2. Which of the following best describes the current operational status of this business? 

• In business

• Temporarily or seasonally inactive

• Ceased operation 

• Sold or leased to another operator 

• Other, please describe:   _________________________

3. Overall, how would you describe this business’s current performance? Please include all domestic operations of this consolidated business, including all locations, subsidiaries, and divisions.

• Excellent

• Above average

• Average

• Below average

• Poor

4. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did this business’s operating revenues/sales/receipts change? Please compare this two-week period to the two weeks prior. Estimates are acceptable.

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

5. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did this business’s number of paid employees change?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

6. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the total number of hours worked by this business’s paid employees change?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

7. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the time it takes for this business to receive deliveries from suppliers change?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

• Not applicable

8. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the prices this business charges for its own goods or services change?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

9. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, how did the prices this business pays for goods or services change?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

10. In the last six months, in what ways did changes to interest rates negatively impact this business? Select all that apply.

• Decreased profitability

• Inability to service debt

• Inability to refinance existing loans

• Inability to invest in this business

• Not applicable

11. In the last six months, did this business experience any monetary losses due to an extreme weather event (for example, hurricane, flood, drought, or heat wave)?

• Yes

• No

[If No to 11, go to 12]

12. What type of extreme weather event caused the monetary losses? Select all that apply.

• Wildfire

• Earthquake

• Hurricane

• Tornado

• Flood

• Drought

• High winds

• Severe storm/hail

• Snow/blizzard/ice

• Extreme temperature (heat or cold)

• Other _____

13. Six months from now, how do you think you will describe this business’s performance?

• Excellent

• Above average

• Average

• Below average

• Poor

14. Six months from now, how do you think this business’s number of paid employees will have changed?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

15. Six months from now, how do you think the prices this business pays for goods or services will have changed?

• Increased

• Decreased

• No change

16. Between MMM DD – MMM DD, did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI)¹ in producing goods or services? (Examples of AI: machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, voice recognition, etc.)

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

17. In the last six months, in what business functions did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Select all that apply.

• Production of goods or provision of services (OR Core operations related to production of goods or provision of services?)

• Strategy and business development

• Finance and accounting

• Sales and marketing

• Customer service

• Research and development

• Information technology

• Human resources

• Public relations and communication

• Management and administration

• Sourcing, supply chains, and purchasing

• Quality management and control

• Distribution

• Legal and compliance

• Other (please describe: ___________________)

• This business did not use AI in any business functions in the last six months

• Do not know

[If No or Do not know to 16 AND “This business did not use AI in any business functions in the last six months” or Do not know to 17, go to 24:]

18. In the last six months, did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to perform tasks previously done by employees?

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

[If No or Do not know to 18, go to 20:]

19. In the last six months, how many tasks previously done by employees were instead performed by Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

• A small number

• A moderate number

• A large number

• Do not know

20. In the last six months, did this business create new tasks for employees as a result of using Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

21. In the last six months, did this business use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to perform operations previously performed by existing equipment or software?

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

22. In the last six months, how did the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) affect this business’s total employment?

• Increased

• Decreased

• Did not change

• Do not know

23. In the last six months, to use Artificial Intelligence (AI), what changes did this business make? Select all that apply.

• Trained current staff to use AI

• Hired staff trained in AI

• Purchased computing power or specialized equipment or software

• Purchased cloud services or cloud storage

• Changed data collection or data management practices

• Developed new workflows

• Used vendors or consulting services to install or integrate AI

• Other (please describe: ___________________)

  • This business did not make any changes to use AI in the last six months

  • Do not know

24. In the last six months, did this business’s employees use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist in any work-related tasks?

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

[If No or Do not know to 24, go to 27:]

25. In the last six months, did this business’ employees use Generative AI to assist in any work-related tasks? (Generative AI is a type of Artificial Intelligence that uses prompts or other inputs to create text, images, music, videos, or code. Some examples of Generative AI include ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Dall E, MidJourney, and GitHub Copilot.)

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

[If No or Do not know to 25, go to 27:]

26. In the last six months, what work-related tasks did this business’s employees use Generative AI to assist with? Select all that apply.

• Information processing, paperwork, or filing

• Writing or editing documents, emails, or communications

• Interpreting, analyzing, translating, or summarizing documents

• Customer support

• Developing or researching new projects, processes, or products

• Searching for information or technical help

• Software coding or debugging

• Data analysis or visualization

• Tutoring, training, or learning

• Other tasks (please describe: ___________________)

• Do not know

27. During the next six months, do you think this business will be using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in producing goods or providing services? (Examples of AI: machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, voice recognition, etc.)

• Yes

• No

• Do not know

28. During the next six months, in what business functions do you think this business will be using Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Select all that apply.

• Production of goods or provision of services (OR Core operations related to production of goods or provision of services?)

• Strategy and business development

• Finance and accounting

• Sales and marketing

• Customer service

• Research and development

• Information technology

• Human resources

• Public relations and communication

• Management and administration

• Sourcing, supply chains, and purchasing

• Quality management and control

• Distribution

• Legal and compliance

• Other (please describe: ___________________)

• This business will not be using AI in any business functions in the next six months

• Do not know

[If No or Do not know to 27 AND “This business will not be using AI in any business functions in the next six months” or Do not know to 28, ask 29]

29. Why does this business not plan to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) during the next six months? Select all that apply.

• Too expensive

• AI is not a mature enough technology yet

• Lack of knowledge on the capabilities of AI

• Concerns about privacy/security

• Concerns about bias

• Lack of skilled workforce

• Lack of required data

• Laws and regulations prevent or restrict use of AI

• Previous or current use of AI did not meet expectations

• Other (please describe: ___________________)

• AI is not applicable to this business

• Do not know

30. Would you like to provide any information about your responses to these questions or this business?

Remarks (500 characters)

31. For future Business Trends and Outlook Survey requests, please provide your preferred contact information:

Contact name:

Contact title:

Email:

32. Please correct the following information for you company

Doing Business As (DBA) name:

Street:

Suite/ Unit:

Zip 1:

Zip 2:

This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The eight-digit OMB approval number is 0607-1022 and appears in the lower left corner of each reporting screen. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey.

Authority and Confidentiality

Title 13, United States Code, Sections 131 and 182, authorizes the U.S. Census Bureau to conduct this collection and to request your voluntary assistance. The Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of the same law to keep your information confidential and use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Burden Estimate Statement

We estimate the Business Trends and Outlook Survey will take an average of 25 minutes to complete. Factors such as company size, complexity and activity will affect your actual time to complete the survey. This estimate includes the time to review instructions, search existing data sources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the survey.

You may email comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: [email protected]. Be sure to use “EID Survey Comments 0607-1022” as the subject.

1 (Added 10/23/23) AI Definition: Computer systems and software that are able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as decision-making, visual perception, speech recognition, and language processing.

Types or applications of AI include machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents, predictive analytics, machine vision, voice recognition, decision making systems, data analytics, image processing, etc.

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