Confidence among British Columbia鈥檚 small-and mid-sized business owners was stable in February.
The B.C. barometer index dropped slightly from its level in January at 71.1 in January to 70.0 in February. The index was at 67.5 in December and 68.1 in November.
The national average is up slightly this month, to 69.4 from its January level of 68.9. This makes three straight months that the national index has been in the healthy part of the index range (index levels between 65 and 75 indicate a growing economy).
With respect to employment plans in British Columbia, most employers do not plan to make changes to full-time employment levels (72 per cent), while 14 per cent plan to increase full-time employment and 14 per cent plan to decrease.
More highlights include:
鈥� 54 per cent of businesses in B.C. say the overall state of business is satisfactory, 29 per cent say it is good, and 17 per cent say it is bad.
鈥� Tax and regulatory costs continue to be the most significant cost pressure in B.C., with 65 per cent of business owners saying these costs are causing difficulties for their business.
鈥� 55 per cent of B.C. small businesses say that insufficient domestic demand is their greatest business constraint, followed by management skills and time constraints (38 per cent).
All of this is outlined and illustrated in the attached B.C. business barometer for February 2011. The national report, including a comparison chart of Canadian Federation of Independent Business鈥� business barometer and GDP, can be found at .
鈥� CFIB
