Businesses report being in good form in only 32% of cases, while 20% were in a bad state.
With 20% of businesses planning to hire full-time employees over the next three months and 17% are planning to lay off employees, full-time hiring plans are still on the decline. The average plans for price increases (4.7%) and pay increases (3.4%) are still hovering at all-time high levels.
The main impediment to corporate expansion is labour shortages (52% for shortages of skilled workers and 39% for semi- or unskilled workers).
Costs associated with fuel and energy continue to be the largest expense factor affecting most small businesses, cited by three fourths (76%) of entrepreneurs surveyed.
This month, optimism declined briefly across nearly all provinces, with the lowest index readings in Ontario (44.7) and Newfoundland and Labrador (45.7). Confidence also dropped across almost all sectors, with the worst levels among agriculture (37.7), and retail (38.7) enterprises.
