CFIB press release
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) today released the latest monthly Business Barometer results showing Alberta’s small business confidence index jumped 2.7 points in August to 69.5. The increase means Alberta now ranks third among all provinces and is 3.6 points above the national index of 65.9.
“Thankfully, the downward drift we’ve seen over the past couple of months has reversed,” says Richard Truscott, Alberta Director for CFIB.
Confidence levels in Alberta now lag behind both Saskatchewan (70.7) and Newfoundland (70.4). The provinces trailing Alberta are Ontario (67.8), British Columbia (66.3), Quebec (59.0), New Brunswick (58.5), Nova Scotia (58.0), Manitoba (57.6), and PEI (50.0).
“There’s plenty of good economic news in these latest numbers. For starters, Alberta’s small businesses continue to maintain above-average optimism relative to entrepreneurs in the rest of the country,” says Truscott.
Truscott also pointed out that the percentage of business owners who describe the general state of health for their business as “good” held steady, up one point in August to 48 per cent, while only 9 per cent said conditions were ”bad”.
In addition, hiring expectations remained relatively strong in August. Twenty-eight per cent of Alberta’s independent business owners surveyed said they intended to hire full-time staff within the next three months, down three points from July, but reflective of the expected seasonality in the data from previous years. Only six per cent predicted a reduction in their workforce.
“One of the most interesting trends in the data is how few entrepreneurs now view a lack of market demand as a major challenge for their business,” states Truscott. Two years ago, 50 to 60 per cent of business owners were pointing to insufficient domestic demand as limiting sales or production. By August 2013, it had shrunk to just 18 per cent.
As a result, the shortage of qualified labour is clearly the number one constraint facing independent business in Alberta. Thirty-seven per cent identified the shortage of skilled labour as limiting their ability to grow sales or production, 12 points higher than any other factor.
About the Business Barometer: Measured on a scale of 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners expecting their businesses’ 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 at its potential. The August 2013 findings are based on 1,018 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. Findings are statistically accurate to +/- 3.1 per cent 19 times in 20.
About CFIB: As Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses, CFIB is Powered by Entrepreneurs™. Established in 1971, CFIB takes direction from more than 109,000 members in every sector nationwide, giving independent business a strong and influential voice at all levels of government and helping to grow the economy.
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