BC small business confidence up two more points in April
British Columbia’s
optimism defies national trend
British Columbia’s Business Barometer ™ index climbed two points in
April over March in the face of an overall Canadian decline, according to the
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). BC’s small business
optimism rose to 67.6 from 65.7 in March, while the national barometer slid
slightly to 62.4. Index levels between 65 and 75 generally indicate a growing
economy.
"This marks
the third consecutive month of increasing optimism for small businesses in
British Columbia, which is going against the greater national trend," said
Mike Klassen, CFIB BC Director of Provincial Affairs. “In fact, British
Columbia now ranks second nationwide in terms of business confidence, and this
is a dramatic improvement from where we were as recently as a few months ago.”
BC is now in
second place nationwide in terms of business confidence, up from fifth in
March. Only Newfoundland & Labrador ranks higher, with a barometer index of
69.1.
When reporting the
current state of their business, 34 per cent responded “Good” versus 17 per
cent who answered “Bad”, with the remaining 49 per cent choosing
“Satisfactory”, essentially unchanged from the previous month.
Report highlights:
• 24 per cent of BC respondents expect to increase
full-time employment in the next three months, versus 7 per cent anticipating
reduction. This is a four point drop in intention to increase over last month,
which in turn was the highest level surveyed in several years.
• Taxes and regulation was cited as the major cost
constraint by 66 per cent of respondents, followed by fuel and energy at 53 per
cent.
• 48 per cent say that insufficient domestic demand is
their main limitation on sales or production growth.
All of this is
outlined and illustrated in the Business Barometer for March. The national
report, including a comparison chart of CFIB’s business barometer and GDP, can
be found at http://www.cfib.ca/barometer/
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