Fuel costs are now the top cost constraint on business growth, affecting nearly three in four firms, according to the latest Monthly Business Barometer by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Fuel costs posted the largest monthly increase, rising another 20 points in April alone. In fact, concern over fuel costs has doubled in just two months, climbing from 36% in February to 74% in April.
Other key takeaways:
- The average price increase plans jumped to 3.2% in April, the highest monthly change since the tariff war last March.
- Small business long-term optimism improved modestly to 58.5 points in April, following the sharp decline recorded in March.
CFIB’s Business Barometer long-term index, which is based on 12-month forward expectations for business performance, edged up to 58.5 in April—roughly 3 points higher than in March. The short-term optimism index, based on the 3-month outlook, also posted a modest gain, rising by about 1 point to 55.4, said the national organization.
Measured on a scale between 0 and 100, an index above 50 means owners expecting their business’s performance to be stronger over the next three or 12 months outnumber those expecting weaker performance.
“Concern over fuel costs has, in fact, doubled in just two months, climbing from 36% in February to 74% in April. Shipping and receiving costs have also risen sharply, reaching 45%, up from 26% in February,” said the CFIB.
“The average price increase jumped up to 3.2% in April, marking the highest monthly change since the tariff war last March. The average wage increase increased slightly to 2.4%, the first notable shift after roughly 12 months of readings clustered around the 2.2% mark.”
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