Small business confidence continues to grow in Alberta
Posted Apr 27, 2017 1:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
New numbers show Alberta small business confidence is on the rise.
According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, it rose two and a half points in April to 57.9, bringing the province closer to the national average.
Amber Ruddy, CFIB Alberta director, said while this is great news, confidence is still fragile.
“We’re not out of the clear yet,” she explained. “There are still some concerning indicators including staffing intentions businesses are still looking to. In 23 per cent of cases, they lay off full-time staff, unfortunately, within the next three months.”
Ruddy said it’s important to keep the momentum going.
“Businesses are doing everything they can within the normal business cycle trying to attract new customer bases, but in order for that positive energy to keep going, we have to make sure that the government doesn’t interrupt with some negative implications on the policy front,” she said.
According to the report, 61 per cent of Alberta businesses point to insufficient domestic demand as their top limitation.
Nationally, small business confidence gained one and a half points to end the month at 64.4, its highest level since November 2014.
The web survey collected 653 respondents from a stratified random sample of CFIB members.
