According to the latest monthly survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Canadian small business confidence index rose 2.7 points in February to 62.9. The reading showed an improvement of 8.2 points from the same period last year and hit the highest reading since January 2015.
The sentiment reading is now showing optimism after remaining mostly flat near the 60-point mark over the prior 10 months. Details of the report showed 40 percent of small businesses said their overall state of business is good, while 17 percent said it is bad. The natural resources sector is now the most upbeat with a confidence reading of 69.2. Confidence was lowest in healthcare and education (56.3), transportation (58.1) and agriculture (58.8).
18 percent say they plan to increase full-time employment in the next three to four months and 12 percent plan to decrease employment. Firms' employment plans point to some modest improvement but remain below levels typically observed at this time of year, suggesting some caution by businesses.
On a regional basis, businesses were most upbeat in Manitoba (66.9) and Quebec (66.6). Businesses across the oil-producing regions remained the most pessimistic, but confidence continued to improve for the third consecutive month in the Saskatchewan (57.7) and Alberta (49.8).
