Quarterly Job Market Update     April, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 8             General Observations: From a job market perspective, the first quarter of 2012 here in Canada has been very similar in many respects to the last quarter of 2011.  The unemployment rate has bounced around a little but today at 7.2% unemployment it is somewhat better than the 7.5% unemployment rate in December.  After a couple of months of little change we added 82,000 jobs in March which means that Canada has added 197,000 jobs in the last 12 months. The high price per barrel of oil is the primary driver behind the “hot” job market in Calgary, yet that is somewhat dampened by the strength of the Canadian dollar which has been at or close to par with the US dollar for some time now.  The continuing extremely low prices for Natural Gas have somewhat dampened the demand for talent in Western Canada, if you can believe it.  A high gas price would result in a severe shortage of talent! The financial sector in Canada remains strong and hence is a strong source of employment, with new projects and initiatives creating jobs that impact primarily the GTA and Montreal and we continue to see demand in those cities. Read the complete Quarterly Job Market Update     In This Issue: Quarterly Job Market Update Feature Articles > Pullout a Blow to Unity Hopes > Iran Seen as Wild Card in Economic Recovery > How Bean Counters Can Become Bean Growers > Handle Growing Lookup Tables with a Two-Key Combo > Congratulations, Accountants, You Have One of the Greatest Jobs Ever > The LINKEDIN Profile of a CFO           Feature Articles         Pullout a Blow to Unity Hopes The goal of establishing nationwide unification in the accounting profession may have been dealt a lethal blow after the sudden announcement by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta (ICAA) that it is pulling out of merger discussions. More… Iran Seen as Wild Card in Economic Recovery While some see warning signs about the Canadian economy’s impending fall down the same hole its neighbour to the south tumbled into a few years ago, Doug Porter says that’s a bit overblown. However, tensions in the Middle East could knock the world economy, including Canada’s, off the rails leading to slow recovery, he warned. More… How Bean Counters Can Become Bean Growers Cutting-edge financial-performance analysis demands that the analytical process be forward looking. More… Handle Growing Lookup Tables with a Two-Key Combo A time-saving VLOOKUP trick that can be solved with a simple Ctrl+T. More… Congratulations, Accountants, You Have One of the Greatest Jobs Ever Logic and attention to detail are the name of the accounting game: This profession is the epitome of left-brain thinking. But most importantly, being an accountant means being passionate about numbers and the practical application of numbers. More… The LINKEDIN Profile of a CFO The only thing worse than having no Linked In profile is having one that is completely incomplete. More…       Eagle Home Page | Online Version | News from the Nest – IT Edition | Eagle Referral Program