TORONTO , July 25, 2013 /CNW/ – Small business confidence increased
smartly in July, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent
Business (CFIB). The Business Barometer® index rose almost five points
to 64.2, making up nearly all the ground lost in the previous four
months.
“Canada’s small and mid-size business owners are considerably more
optimistic than they were just a month ago, and the current index
reading is the best since February,” said Ted Mallett , CFIB’s
vice-president and chief economist. “Most of this turnaround is the
result of much better numbers out of Ontario. Interestingly, the recent
floods did not have a significant net impact on Alberta’s numbers,
which would suggest the province is already getting back on track.”
Entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan (71.2) are the most optimistic in Canada ,
although post-flood Alberta (66.8), Newfoundland and Labrador (66.7)
and now Ontario (66.5) are close behind. British Columbia (64.9) is
above the national average, while New Brunswick (58.9), Manitoba
(58.0), Nova Scotia (57.0) and Quebec (56.4) are all below. Prince
Edward Island (49.2) remains at the bottom end of the scale.
“We see steady or improving business confidence in most sectors,
particularly construction and manufacturing, with retail the only
sector notably on the downside,” added Mallett. “A number of factors,
including changes in pricing and hiring plans, new orders, capital
spending, customer demand, and labour availability suggest an
improvement in business performance, which is good news for the
Canadian economy.”
Measured on a scale of 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners
expecting their businesses’ performance to be stronger in the next year
outnumber those expecting weaker performance. According to past
results, index levels normally range between 65 and 70 when the economy
is growing at its potential. Findings are based on 1,135 responses,
collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a
controlled-access web survey from July 1 to 17. Results are considered
statistically accurate to +/- 2.9 per cent 19 times in 20.
Read the July 2013 Business Barometer® at www.cfib.ca/barometer.
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized
businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region.
SOURCE: Canadian Federation of Independent Business
or to arrange an interview with Ted Mallett, contact Gisele Lumsden at 416 222-8022 or email public.affairs@cfib.ca