There are a lot of moving parts in trying to get the economy on to a footing that we would call normal or the new normal. There’s the back-to-school angle, business re-opening, allowance for larger meetings or gatherings, return-to-work versus work-from-home and so on.
Another is just the way business operators see the future….they are more willing to try things if they see some light at the end of the tunnel.
One organization that tracks the sentiment of small and medium sized businesses is the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Its monthly barometer of attitudes was down a bit in August but still generally positive. Anything above 50 is considered positive while below 50 is down.
The national number is around 59 while in Saskatchewan we are higher – almost 63 – which is among the most upbeat in the country but the agency says there are two sides to our number. We are upbeat about things a year from now, not so much for three months ahead; for every business planning to hire workers in the next three months, for example, almost five play payroll reductions.
Source:
