Minor Slip in Small Business Confidence in B.C.
Thursday, January 3, 2013 @ 3:57 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says small business confidence in B.C. slipped slightly last month to 65.0, down from the 67.1 recorded in November.
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 70 when the economy is growing at its potential.
The slight decline in B.C’s index was enough to let B.C. slip from 3rd to 4th place among the provinces. Small business owners in Newfoundland and Labrador (69.1) remain the most optimistic in the country. Entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan (66.5), Alberta (65.7) and British Columbia (65.0) are above the national average, of 62.6.
More highlights:
- 71 per cent of BC employers do not plan to make changes to full-time employment levels, while 20 per cent plan to increase them and 9 per cent plan to reduce them.
- Taxes and regulations remained the biggest cost pressure, chosen by 61 per cent of respondents, followed by wages.
- 44 per cent of BC small businesses say that insufficient domestic demand is their main operating challenge, with the shortage of skilled labour the next most common choice.
When asked to characterize the current state of their business, 33 per cent of respondents answered “Good” versus 55 per cent who replied “Satisfactory” and only 12 per cent who responded with “Bad”.
“The economy continues to grow, albeit modestly,” says Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist and vice-president.. “Entrepreneurs are reporting generally positive news about employment and capital investment plans. That suggests growth could improve once we see more economic optimism in the U.S. and Europe.”
Comments
Free enterprise is under attack from our monopoly capitalist governments in power. Our country and its economy are being off shored for the short term profits of foreign owned corporations.
The CFIB economist’s focus on ‘growth’ shows that the 44% of BC businesses that say there is insufficient domestic demand are all but being ignored. For ‘growth’ implies a further increase in SUPPLY, but what the businesses are saying is there is already insufficient domestic DEMAND, and if this is so, what is the point of further increasing Supply? Why dump more product into a market that isn’t absorbing all the product that’s available now?
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