Canadian businesses are optimistic about their 2011 sales prospects and growing numbers are planning to hire, according to a Bank of Canada report released Monday.
“Growth is fairly well entrenched, meaning the recovery is here to stay, but it’s going to be at a moderate pace,” said economist Francis Fong from TD Economics, interpreting the Bank of Canada report.
“So what business owners can expect is for people to still come through their doors, but maybe not at such a rapid pace as they’ve been seeing in the past year or so.”
The report, which surveyed the senior management of firms selected in accordance with the composition of Canada’s gross domestic product between November 15 and December 10 of last year, indicated businesses expect modest growth in 2011. It noted while many firms are expecting “headwinds” from strong competition and moderate demand, employment intentions have risen.
A report by TD Economics, responding to the Bank of Canada’s findings, honed in on the employment intentions.
“Perhaps most surprising was the surge in employment intentions back to levels seen in the first half of 2010,” it noted. “Back then, job gains were averaging in excess of 50,000 on a monthly basis and we had always anticipated that this would moderate alongside the overall economy.”
The Bank of Canada report noted 49% of firms planned on hiring more employees, up from 39% the previous quarter, while the percentage of firms planning to shed jobs fell to 8% from 14%.
“If businesses are ramping up their expectations of future hiring, then certainly that’s good if you’re out there in the job market,” Fong said, but he cautioned the survey only indicates intentions for one quarter.
“It’s hard for us to say that this is really going to translate into something tangible.”