Small business optimism in BC received a bit of an uptick in August according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The provincial rating grew by two points this month now sitting with a mark of 55, still five ticks below the Canadian average of 60.
Western Economist Aaron Aerts recently spoke with Vista Radio.
“The economy in BC is still going pretty strong, the Canadian economy is going strongly and there seems to be some international stability or as much as we can call it that but I think in general we have seen quite a few fluctuations in the level so I don’t want to read too much into a one month uptick.”
However, the feeling isn’t as rosy in the north aren’t as scared because they still can’t fill key positions.
“A total lack of labour and the difficulty of finding someone to hire, so we need to see government initiatives that can fill in those gaps and help find the right people for those businesses and it’s really a strong right now as some business have been looking for someone for half a year and still haven’t found someone.”
Aerts adds the on-going issue surrounding the Employer’s Health Tax could be also put a damper on the outlook of small businesses in the north.
“At the end of the year, some small businesses with as few as ten employees are going to have to start paying the tax, some of the bigger ones are already paying it but those smaller ones had the longer roll outs. ”
“Coming in the new year, they are looking at new payroll tax that will likely hit their bottom line.”
Quebec had the most optimistic entrepreneurs in the country this month with a rating of 68 points followed by Nova Scotia at 67.
The August results show just 41% of entrepreneurs describe their business outlook as good, while 46% believe it is satisfactory.