Two different business mood barometers show mixed feelings when it comes to the mood of Canadian consumers and business leaders.
The Conference Board of Canada, which measures the optimism of Canadian consumers, revealed that their confidence had fallen by 3.7 points in the month of July to 80.0 on the board's scale. The sour mood reflected concerns over income, the ability to make major purchases and jobs.
But the mood for those in the business community remained nearly static. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and Royal Bank of Canada's Business Monitor for the second quarter showed that 57 percent of large and small business executives had a positive outlook for the future. That figure was down only a few points from the first quarter's measure of 61.
"Significant distance has been traveled on the journey toward economic recovery, but many executive (chartered accountants) are not prepared to let their guard down," said Kevin Dancey, CICA's president and chief executive, in an interview with Reuters.
The Canadian government recently took a renewed interest in the business community. Treasury Board president Stockwell Day recently met with twelve business leaders in Calgary in order to get a better sense of the business mood.
