NB Business Short-term Hiring Plans Not Ambitious: CFIB
MONCTON – Short-term hiring plans for New Brunswick business aren’t great according to the latest numbers from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s (CFIB) Business Barometer Index.
The organization says short-term hiring plans are not ambitious with 18 per cent of owners expecting layoffs and only 17 per cent looking to hire. About 40 per cent of respondents reported that their firms are in good shape compared to 18 per cent saying that their operations are in poor shape.
Canada’s small business optimism is steady in March, holding on to the strong gains it had posted a month earlier. CFIB’s monthly Business Barometer index remains at 62.9 points—the same as in February and 2.7 points above January’s reading. Although its trend is on the upswing, the organization says confidence still has a way to go before reaching historical norms.
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.
The national index has been supported by steadily improving perspectives in Alberta (55.5) as well as modest gains to indexes in Ontario (65.6), British Columbia (64.9) and Nova Scotia (65.9). Small business optimism in Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick is in similar territory (65.7, 64.5 and 63.8 respectively) but saw slight declines from their February levels. After three consecutive monthly increases, Saskatchewan’s index dropped slightly to 56.3, while bigger declines were seen in Prince Edward Island (58.6) and Newfoundland and Labrador (42.2).