CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Small businesses on P.E.I. were not as confident in the economy in January as they were in the summer, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s barometer index released on Thursday.
“It’s not uncommon to see cooler results during winter months given the seasonal nature of our economy,” said Erin McGrath-Gaudet, CBIB’s director for P.E.I., in a press release.
“Fortunately, we aren’t seeing a negative trend on staffing plans and small business owners are largely reporting the state of their business is still reasonably good.”
P.E.I. scored 63.5 on the index – 10 points lower than the peak score this summer. The CFIB says an index level between 65 and 70 normally indicates that the economy is growing at its potential.
The results are based on 930 responses from CFIB members last month.
Alberta had the lowest confidence in the country after a drop of 7.6 index points with a score of 37.5.