BC’s small business optimism regained some footing in the second month of 2013, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
BC’s Business Barometer® rose by about one point to 64.9 in February, while the national barometer remained essentially unchanged at 66.2. Index levels between 65 and 75 generally indicate a growing economy.
BC is now in sixth place nationwide in terms of business confidence, up from ninth in January. Alberta leads the nation for business optimism at 70.5, followed closely by Newfoundland & Labrador.
When reporting the current state of their business, 35 per cent responded “Good” versus 15 per cent who answered “Bad”, with the remaining 50 per cent choosing “Satisfactory”, representing a two-point increase in the “Good” category.
More highlights:
- 22 per cent of BC respondents expect to increase full-time employment in the next three months, versus 7 per cent anticipating reduction.
- Taxes and regulation was cited as the major cost constraint by 61 per cent of respondents, followed by fuel and energy at 51 per cent.
- 46 per cent say that insufficient domestic demand is their main limitation on sales or production growth.
To give a more stable profile of month-to-month survey findings, all current and historical BC results in this report have been re-cast as three-month moving averages. Earlier, they had been calculated as two-month moving averages. All of this is outlined and illustrated in the attached BC Business Barometer for September. The national report, including a comparison chart of CFIB’s business barometer and GDP, can be found at http://www.cfib.ca/barometer/
