New Brunswick Small Business Confidence Up for the Fifth Consecutive Month
MONCTON – Small business confidence is up in New Brunswick according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s (CFIB) Business Barometer Index.
The organization says confidence has increased for the fifth consecutive month, with February’s reading sitting at 64.8, the highest it has been since last June.
Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners expecting their business’ performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance. An index level of between 65 and 70 means the economy is growing at its potential.
Meanwhile, short-term hiring plans are about the same as in January, with 23 per cent of owners expecting layoffs and only 15 per cent looking to hire. About 46 per cent of respondents are reporting that their firms are in good shape compared to 18 per cent saying that their operations are in poor shape.
Nation-wide, CFIB says Canada’s small businesses are “quite a bit more” upbeat in February. The monthly Business Barometer index rose 2.7 points to 62.9 this month – its best reading since January 2015.
“The destabilizing effects of the oil price crunch on business confidence now appear mostly behind us,” the organization said in a news release.