Canadian Business Barometer Falls In December

Small and mid-sized businesses in Canada may not have had the best possible December.  The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has released statistics showing that confidence among people within these companies dropped by a significant amount during the month.

Ted Mallett, the organization’s vice president of research and chief economist, recently wrote, "CFIB’s Business Barometer Index fell to 63.7 in December, from 68.0 a month earlier.  The Index has still to match its September peak for the year of 68.7, which means customer demand growth remains below par."

Also, this isn’t just a matter of the economy not being quite as strong as it was a couple of months ago.  Mallett continued, "According to past results, index levels normally range between 65 and 75 when the economy is growing," so it looks like Canadian business owners might be inclined to believe that the recession isn’t quite over.

The good news is that the Business Barometer Index remains significantly higher than where it was during late 2008 and early 2009, though.  Indeed, the graph below proves it’s no understatement to say that things could be worse. 

Let’s just hope that things appear better when the stats regarding the start of 2010 arrive.