Canada's small business optimism remained unchanged in April over the long term and registered a small gain over the short term.
CFIB’s Business Barometer® long-term index, which is based on 12-month forward expectations for business performance, remained at 55.7. The short-term optimism index, based on a 3-month outlook, sits at 53.9, one point higher than the March level. Currently, both levels are about 5 points and 7 points below historical seasonal levels respectively.
Provincial picture
All but three provinces have seen improvements in the long-term confidence. There were little changes at the top of the scale. However, it is worrisome to see the two largest provinces at the bottom of the optimism scale. Ontario and Quebec show indexes of 54.5 and 46.6 for the long-term respectively, very low for both.
General business indicators
Full-time staffing plans are very moderate for this time of the year with 22% of businesses looking to hire while 14% are considering layoffs. Supply chain indicators show that some difficulties have been resolved on the supply side, but many issues remain especially on the distribution and input costs side.
Price and wage plans
Average future price increasing plans remained unchanged at 3.5; while average wage increase plans have seen a small bump to 3.3 from March level of 3.0. Both indicators are trending towards more normal levels but at different paces.
This is an excerpt from the CFIB’s report.