Calgary, October 31, 2019 – The latest monthly Business Barometer® results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ (CFIB) show Alberta’s small business confidence index moved downwards half a point in October.
This slight decline puts Alberta’s Business Barometer at 53.6 points, the third lowest in the country, and a bit behind the national indicator of 59.8 points.
It should be noted the cut-off for this month’s barometer was October 15th, meaning the data is not reflective of the federal election results or the recently announced Alberta budget.
“Confidence has remained low, and relatively stable over the past few months,” says Keyli Kosiorek, Policy Analyst. “With the Alberta government’s budget recently tabled, we are keeping a close eye to see whether the government’s long-term economic growth plan will start to have an impact on small business confidence.”
The Alberta index of 53.6 is still well below the 65 to 75 point range (on the 100 point scale) that indicates economic stability and growth.
Entrepreneurs’ intentions to hire over the next three months are up slightly: 11 per cent of business owners said they plan to increase their full-time employment (up two percentage points from September), compared to 21 per cent who anticipate a decrease (up 3 percentage points from September).
The provincial numbers for October were: PEI (69.4), Nova Scotia (66.8), Quebec (66.7), New Brunswick (66.5), Manitoba (63.5), Ontario (60.0), Newfoundland & Labrador (55.8), Alberta (53.6), British Columbia (52.8), and Saskatchewan (50.0).
October 2019 findings are based on 764 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. Data reflect responses received from October 1st to the 21st. Findings are statistically accurate to +/- 3.5 per cent 19 times in 20.
To read the October Business Barometer
For media enquiries about the Alberta results, please contact Keyli Kosiorek, Policy Analyst, at msalb@cfib.ca or 403-444-9290. For national results, please contact Ted Mallett, Chief Economist, public.affairs@cfib.ca or 647-464-2814
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region, including 10,000 in Alberta. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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