June 3, 2009 – Toronto � There are growing signs that Canada�s economy is turning the corner towards recovery. Confidence among small- and mid-sized business owners continued to improve through May. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB�s) new Monthly Business Barometer Index rose to 60.4 last month, from 54.9 in April, and a cyclical low of 39.4 in December 2008. �Despite the improvement, the index remains well below historical norms and suggests that GDP growth has not yet entered positive territory,� cautioned Ted Mallett, CFIB�s vice-president of research and chief economist.
CFIB Business Barometer Index and GDP
Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners expecting their business� performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance. Data were collected quarterly from 2000 to mid-2008. Beginning September 2008, the data are now collected monthly.
The outcomes have also been broken down by province and industry, for these results or to view the full report visit www.cfib.ca/research/reports/default.asp.
The May 2009 findings are based on 835 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey, May 2 to 27. Data are statistically accurate to +/- 3.4 per cent 19 times in 20.
About CFIB
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses. Encouraging the development of good public policy at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, CFIB represents more than 105,000 business owners, who collectively employ 1.25 million Canadians and account for $75 billion in GDP. www.cfib.ca
