With higher borrowing costs weighing on the economy and skilled labour shortages topping the list of the things holding them back, the latest Business Barometer® published by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) shows that both long-term and short-term small business confidence fell in September.

The long-term optimism index* is based on how businesses expect to be performing in 12 months while the short-term optimism index is based on a 3-month outlook.*

The long-term index for Alberta declined 4.6 points to 54.8 in September, its lowest reading since March 2023.

Nationally, the long-term index shed 6.0 points to land at 48.7 in September—its lowest level since April 2020.

The short-term index, meanwhile, went from 50.5 to 48.6 in Alberta, and retreated 2.2 points to 45.5 nationally.

*Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, an index above 50 means owners expecting their business’s performance to be stronger outnumber those expecting weaker performance.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Five percent of the Canadian population identified as Indigenous in the 2021 Census.

Today’s trivia question: In what year was the CFIB officially founded?