Everyday I speak with financial services professionals concerned about economic health and the presence, or lack there of, of the job market. There is one question I hear day-in and day-out: “Is the job market getting better?”

Short answer: Absolutely!

The market appears weak because of the massive competition- great opportunities may come and go before you even hear about them. Thankfully for you talented job seekers with an accounting background, it is most certainly an accountant’s market at the moment. Accountants, whether they are coming straight out of Public, going back into Public, entry-level, industry specific CFO’s, Fund Accountants, Auditors, Product Controllers, or Tax professionals, have been seeing a dramatic increase in the volume of opportunities in certain industries. CPA’s – You’re in luck…..and in demand!

The majority of my work is within Financial Services, and there has been a clear positive shift in demand for talented accountants of all sorts. That being said, it is also a buyer’s market and companies who actually have the head count are being ultra specific about what they want and whom they’ll meet. Fair enough. I suppose that as long as there actually ARE jobs out there, we can all feel a touch better about where this fickle economy is heading.

Happy hunting!

   Glenn Jordi
   Accounting/Finance & Financial Services

Yes, you read correctly. In a recent Washington Post article, Blue Chip, White Cotton; What Men’s Underwear Says about the Economy, one research firm claims it has the ability to forecast the state of the economy based on the sale of men’s underwear. The theory is that men prolong purchasing underwear when the economy is bad- therefore causing a dip in sales (sales of mens underwear are usually stable because it is a needed product). Once you start seeing an increase in sales again, the “Men’s Underwear Index” can be considered a positive economic indicator.

Do you think this is possible? What other sales index could be representative of the overall economy?