Small business confidence took a sizeable tumble in early March on news of the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s Business Barometer.
The report, which was released on Wednesday, said optimism levels dropped to 49.8 index points, down more than 10 points from its February reading of 60.5, the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis.
The CFIB said the index is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 based on owners’ perspectives on the health of their businesses for the year ahead. An index level nearer to 65 indicates that the economy is growing at its potential.
On Tuesday, the CFIB released another report on the impacts of COVID-19 (coronavirus) which found that one quarter of Canadian small business owners said they would not survive a month with a big drop in income.
The CFIB normally releases the results of its Barometer on the final Thursday of each month.
“Due to rapidly evolving economic conditions impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, CFIB will increase the frequency of its Business Barometer Survey from monthly to bi-monthly through June 2020. CFIB will release results for mid-March on March 26 with an early flash estimate for April on April 9,” said the organization which is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region.
