Revised -A new report from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics indicating businesses are taking a cautious approach to economic recovery contains few surprises.

Denny Kobayashi, the head of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, said “there are no real surprises,” after perusing the report the YSB released last Wednesday.

According to the report, “over the three-month period from the survey date 29.2 per cent of Yukon businesses expected their profitability would decrease, 1 in 5 (20.9 per cent) expected their sales would decrease, 1 in 7 (14 per cent) expected the prices they charge would rise and 3 in 4 (74 per cent) expected their number of employees would remain the same. More than 1 in 8 (13 per cent) of Yukon businesses reported that they could not take on more debt over the three-month period.

“Most notably so by businesses in the sectors of Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (61.8 per cent) and Accommodation and food services (49.4 per cent).

“Conversely, 10.4 per cent of all businesses expected their profitability to increase, most notably, those in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (42.8 per cent) and other services (except public administration) sectors.”

Kobayashi said the findings mirror what the Yukon chamber has been hearing from its members.

One of the big problems, he said, is that companies are unable to recruit enough people to work for them, causing stress on the existing workforce.

“Those who can recruit workers are finding additional problems with housing for them,” he added.

“So it’s not all good news, but it looks like people are feeling better overall,” Kobayashi said.

“The government programs really helped businesses survive, and will continue to do so.

“Many businesses didn’t really have a summer season, and won’t be receiving any real revenue until July of next year if border restrictions loosen up, but I would say people are feeling cautiously optimistic. There are still consequences to come for some businesses.”

Lars Hartling, the chair of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, had much the same things to say as Kobayashi.

He wasn’t surprised by the contents of the report. Like Kobayashi, he mentioned labour shortages. However, his primary concern was slightly different.

He said the biggest challenge facing business owners is the simple uncertainty relating to the business environment.

“That makes it hard to predict what’s going to happen next,” Hartling said. “There’s a lot of businesses hanging on by their finger nails.”

The report also noted that “just over 1 in 5 (20.9 per cent) of all businesses expected their sales to decrease over the three-month period, up from 18.0 per cent of businesses last quarter.

“Businesses in the accommodation and food services (35.0 per cent) sector were most likely to expect a decrease in sales.

• Nearly 1 in 7 (14.4 per cent) of all businesses expected to raise prices over the three-month period up from 13.2 per cent last cycle, with those in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (34.7 per cent), retail trade (31.0 per cent) and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (23.7 per cent) sectors most likely to expect raising prices.

Nearly three-quarters (74.7 per cent) of all businesses expected their number of employees to remain the same over the next three months, up from 70.4 per cent last cycle.

Conversely, only 4.0 per cent of businesses expected their number of employees to decrease, down from 7.5 per cent last quarter.

Nearly two-thirds (64.8 per cent) of all Yukon businesses reported they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue and expenditures for 12 months or more before considering closure or bankruptcy.