The streak is over for small business optimism in Manitoba.

After six months of seeing optimism rise, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is reporting a six point drop from October to November.

Director of the Prairie Region for CFIB Jonathan Alward says optimism dropped on their Business Barometer to an index of 59.8.

"It's probably a reflection on a difficult harvest for a lot of farmers," says Alward. "The season is starting to run down for some industries. On top of that, I think there is the potential still for a lot of cost increases over the next few years when you look at a rising carbon tax. CPP premiums are going to continue to increase for the next several years. (There is) not a huge amount of tax relief in sight."

Jonathan AlwardThe Barometer measures optimism on a scale from 0-100. An index level above 50 means owners expecting their business' performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance.

Alward says a drop in optimism usually means fewer people will be hired across the board.

"It's not out of the norm for this time of the year, for short-term hiring trends to start to slow, but we saw a really significant drop [in optimism] in Manitoba from October to November," says Alward. "That said, they still remain positive so hopefully for communities like Portage and others across the province, small businesses are still looking to hire over the winter."

In October, Manitoba's optimism was 63.5, which is close to the level (65-70) that indicates the economy is growing at its potential.

Alward says they'll be looking at how local retailers did on Black Friday, and will watch what happens on Cyber Monday (today).

"One thing I think that's important is we're really trying to encourage people to shop local across the province and to recognize the important role that small businesses play," says Alward. "Not only as our job creators, but really, they're a huge part of our tax base. They're donating to their communities."