Spoke with a buddy
about the current economic climate in Canada last night. He related to me a tidbit from his accountant: in his accountant's 55 years, he had only seen things this bad once in his lifetime.
So I guess that if things are cyclic, we probably don't have much to worry about since things can't get much worse before they get better. Despite good job growth in June, most jobs were in the manufacturing sector.
The employment rate for students in Canada is 67.6%, and I seem to know many of the unemployed 32.4%. Heck, information technology jobs are so scarce that a friend of mine who graduated with a BSc in Computer Science is doing an unpaid internship in NYC. In contrast, every single American student I know has a summer job...
Is it simply because the US is 10 times larger than Canada that there are more jobs for young people? A difference in priorities? Or... ?
Canada's facing a problem; it seems like most young Canadians I talk to are thinking of leaving for the USA--not only because the pay is better, but because there are jobs in the US. That means that Canada is losing out on arguably the most productive years of its best and brightest--the same best and brightest that were educated in Canada's subsidized Universities.
As a Canadian, it's worrisome. At the same time, I'm still south of the border...
I'd love to hear any thoughts on this issue. Comment away...