Business Formation Statistics

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Business Formation Statistics (BFS) are a standard data product of the U.S. Census Bureau developed at the Center for Economic Studies 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. BFS provide timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States.

Latest Monthly Business Formation Statistics Report

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Notice: The latest publication of Business Formation Statistics includes large increases in Business Applications from Corporations (CBA), High-Propensity Business Applications (HBA), Oregon, and Washington. We are actively researching the increases and working with appropriate officials at other agencies to determine the validity. We will post additional notices as necessary. If you have any questions, we can be reached at [email protected].

If corrections are warranted, they will be implemented during our annual update process. During the annual update, underlying NAICS codes are revised for each of the previous five years when more accurate and detailed NAICS codes may be available from additional administrative sources. The Formation series are updated annually to revise information on business formations (firm births) from the Business Dynamic Statistics (BDS) program. Also, seasonal factors are recomputed and applied during the annual update, resulting in revisions to our seasonally adjusted series. Updates to the microdata can also occur at this time. For more details on this process, our most recent revision, please see our methodology.
Notice: The latest annual update was applied during the October 2024 monthly release on November 14, 2024. During the annual update, underlying NAICS codes are revised each year for the previous five years when more accurate and detailed NAICS codes may be available from administrative sources. The Formation series are updated annually to revise information on business formations (firm births) from the Business Dynamic Statistics (BDS) program. Also, seasonal factors are recomputed and applied during the annual update, resulting in revisions to our seasonally adjusted series.
Notice: As of August 29, 2024, weekly estimates of BFS data are no longer published on a weekly basis. The Census Bureau continues to produce weekly estimates; however, the weekly estimate files are published as part of the Monthly BFS Release. The first monthly release of weekly estimates was published on September 12, 2024.
Notice: Annual Business Applications by County was released on June 27, 2024. The annual release adds data for 2023 and incorporates revisions for previously published 2022 and 2021 annual county counts.
Notice: The Census Bureau is releasing Monthly Puerto Rico Business Applications as an experimental data product. This experimental product provides a historical data series of monthly business applications for Puerto Rico from July 2004 to February 2024 and will be released at the same time as Monthly Business Formation Statistics going forward.
Notice: Weekly Business Application data with industry detail, as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), were released on February 1, 2024. This updated release adds data through 2023. It also incorporates revisions to the underlying NAICS code assignment methodology for previously published weekly BFS by industry data. The data are available on our Special Projects portion of our website.
Notice: Due to a processing error during the 2023 annual update, a small portion of applications were assigned incorrect NAICS codes. This issue also impacted a small number of our seasonal adjustment models. The affected applications have been reprocessed, seasonal adjustment factors recomputed, and files have been corrected on the website.
Notice: As of December 8, 2021, the monthly Business Formation Statistics is a standard data product.
Notice: The High-Propensity Business Application definition has been revised to the following: a) from a corporate entity,(b) that indicate they are hiring employees, (c) that provide a first wages-paid date (planned wages); or (d) that have a NAICS industry code in accommodation and food services (72) or in portions of construction (237, 238), manufacturing (312, 321, 322, 332), retail (44, 452), professional, scientific, and technical services (5411, 5413), educational services (6111), and health care (621, 623). For more details on this process, our most recent revision, and our linking approach of the previous and revised definition, please see our methodology.
FRED Mobile App: Receive the latest updates on the nation's key economic indicators by downloading the FRED App for both Apple and Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau's 13 economic indicators.
API: The URL for the economic indicators data in the Census Bureau API (Application Programming Interface ) has been updated to add /timeseries/. Examples can be found on the Developers' webpage.
Historical Announcements: See our Previous Announcements document for historical BFS announcements.

Business Formation Statistics

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