Small business optimism rebounds in central Canada
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Business Barometer
Full Report
August 2011
Ted Mallett, Vice-President & Chief Economist
Following two months of slippage, confidence among Canada's small and mid-sized businesses rebounded in July. CFIB's Business Barometer® Index rose two points to 68.3-about the same level it had been holding early in the year. For the most part, it appears Canadian business owners are not expecting much backwash from the sovereign debt uncertainties in Europe and the US.
CFIB Business Barometer Index and GDP
Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners expecting their business' performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance. According to past results, index levels normally range between 65 and 75 when the economy is growing.
The wide divergences in optimism across the country seen earlier this year appear to be coming back to balance. Although still leading, confidence is down slightly in the West. In the central provinces, prospects appear to have brightened. Alberta businesses are still the most optimistic, and now the only province with an index score over 70. Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia businesses are at the other end of the scale-in the low 60s.
