B.C. business confidence, payroll counts inch up

November 11, 2022

Canadian business confidence is down, according to the latest Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Despite the national decline, B.C. small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reported increases in both short-term and long-term indices. The long-term index (12 months) rose to 49.8, retracing some of the loss from the previous month. The short-term index (three months) edged up to 48.6 in October, following September’s 48.2 reading. However, this was the second straight month with a long-term reading below 50 since April 2020 and the fourth consecutive month of short-term index below 50 in 2022, as B.C. businesses remained downbeat amidst the barrage of high inflation and interest rates and economic headwinds. Most provinces reported short-term readings below 50 points.

Source: Business in Vancouver