Business owner confidence on the rise again
Posted Oct 5, 2011 2:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
New numbers from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business find small business in this country is feeling more upbeat about the future.
Confidence is up with an index of 62.7 for the month of September after tumbling downward sharply in August.
“We won’t call it good news because the index is still well below what we had seen earlier in the year,” says Ted Mallett, the Vice President and Chief Economist for the CFIB. “So there is still some recovery to take place. But these index levels … are far above what we had seen during the past recession.”
Mallett compares the latest readings to what the barometer was saying three years ago.
“During 2008, when the economy started to turn sour, we saw our index drop consistently from month to month,” he adds. “That’s what we did not see in September. So I think that we can take away somewhat good news.”
Interestingly, the business barometer is strongest in provinces where energy is a key player in the economy.
“Security of energy supply is perhaps one of the biggest drivers for optimism right now,” says Mallett, “and by the nature of the Alberta and Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland-Labrador economies, that’s where we have the highest optimism.”
Mallett says it looks like the economy will continue to perform well, as long as numbers remain above those of the 2008 recession.
