Business starts have been declining by over 400 starts between March and April of this year, the number of business starts increased slightly for May to 4,560. The opposite is true for the same time last year. Starts increased by over 1,000 between March and April to reach a high of 5,400 for the study period then declined by approximately 500 in May. The economic recovery started at this time last year while there is uncertainty in the present economy.
Source: Government of British Columbia Prepared by: Small Business BC
Business bankruptcies in BC increased by 8 in March 2010 to reach 26 insolvencies, 9 fewer than March of 2009. The total number of business bankruptcies for the last twelve months was 24% lower than the previous twelve months. There were 344 business bankruptcies since April of 2009 compared to 455 for the 2008/2009 period. The greatest difference between 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 came in February where there were 30 fewer business bankruptcies than in the previous February.
Source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcies Prepared by: Small Business BC
The number of self-employedin BC increased by 2,200 in March to reach 455,800, the second largest population of self-employed in the last 2 years. The largest increase over the last year was from September to October when the number of self-employed increased by 7,300.
Source: Statistics Canada Prepared by: Small Business BC
Professional employmentfor small business includes those employed by professional, scientific, and technical companies with fewer than 50 employees. Examples of technical companies include graphic design, computer design, media and communication, and photographic services among others. Employment by these businesses increased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2009 to approximately 60,000, 60% of the total employment by businesses of all sizes in this category. The size of business with the most employees is the 5 to 19 employee firm size with 23,812 employed in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Source: Statistics Canada Prepared by: Small Business BC