February 3, 2011, Toronto – The improvement in small and mid-sized business optimism that unfolded in late 2010 appears to have carried over into the New Year, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
CFIB’s Business Barometer Index finished the month of January at 68.9, only slightly off from December’s score of 69.3. In contrast, the index fluctuated through the mid-60s throughout most of 2010. The CFIB credits post-recession highs in the health of inventories, new orders and investment intentions for production machinery and equipment with buttressing this positive business sentiment.
“It appears to be the business-to-business side of the economy that is powering this latest improvement,” explained CFIB vice president and chief economist, Ted Mallett. “After supporting the economy so well earlier in the recovery, the consumer-led sectors have remained in the background.”
Overall, business owners in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador, and British Columbia are the most upbeat, with index levels between 71 and 72. In contrast, those in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are least optimistic, with index scores of 62.1 and 66.4, respectively.
The Business Barometer is measured on a scale from zero and 100. An index above 50 means the number of owners expecting their businesses’ performance to be stronger in the next year outnumbers those expecting weaker performance.
The January 2011 findings are based on 967 responses to a controlled-access web survey, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members.
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