December Newsletter for Accounting & Finance Professionals in Houston

Industry News and Updates

This will be my last newsletter of 2016! I recently attended a symposium sponsored by the Institute of Regional Forecasting – University of Houston, Bauer College of Business (Go Coogs!). I have shared the information I learned with you below. While I’ve inserted some of my opinions, I can’t take any credit for this. This information was presented by Robert Gilmer, Ph.D.

Houston (more than likely) hit a mild recession the end of 2015 / beginning of 2016.
Houston is not going to enjoy a V shaped recovery. This will be a very slow recovery for us.
We lost about 80,000 oil related jobs (these jobs also impacted other industries as it trickles down).
In the past 21 months we have added 26,300 jobs. In 2016, we added 5,600 (this could be revised downwards).
Most of the jobs created in the past 21 months were related to the drop in natural gas prices and the petrochemical construction boom on the east side of Houston.
The worst SHOULD be behind us.
Oil has almost doubled in price since January!
Overall demand for oil globally is still growing (slowly), but there is still too much supply.
Oil needs to be at 60 dollars or above outside of the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin can make a profit at 45 dollars a barrel. This is where the rig count has grown by 150 rigs!
Jobs come back 2 quarters after rig count goes up.
There are 3 likely scenarios for 2017. Highly optimistic: Jobs come back Q1; Somewhat optimistic: Jobs come back Q2; Not very optimistic: Jobs come back the end of 2017. In my opinion we will see a steady pick up over the year.
No matter what: 2018 and 2019 should be great years for Houston!

Please feel free to email me any questions about this data. I know it’s a lot to take in. I do believe that we are starting to make the turnaround. The key indicator to me is that positions with oil & gas companies are starting to be replaced when someone leaves. That also means that other companies are hiring them away. I am very optimistic about 2017 and definitely think we have put the worst behind us.

Have a great holiday! See you next year!

Local Statistics:

National Unemployment Rate: 4.7 (last year 4.9)
Houston Unemployment Rate: 5.1 (last year 4.7)
Labor Participation Rate: 62.8% (last year 62.50%) – All time high January 2000: 67.30% / All-time low 1977: 62.4%
Manufacturing Index: 51.5 (last year 48) – from what I have read 50 is the magic number! YES!!!!!
Oil Rig Count: 580 (last year 760) – all time high around 1900 in 2012!
Price of Oil: 51.06 (last year around 50.90)
Industries hiring: Retail, Manufacturing, Limited Oil & Gas is coming back, Non Profit, Public Accounting Firms!!!!
Positions in demand: Audit & Tax Public Accounting SUPER HOT!, Staff Accountant, Internal Audit, SEC or Big 4 backgrounds are in high demand

Interesting Articles:

The follow-up email that works even better than “Just Checking In”: http://wp.me/puDjI-1yk
Handling the impossible question: what are your weaknesses? http://wp.me/puDjI-1yD
Why the color of your suit matters: http://wp.me/puDjI-1xQ
Interview Preparation Checklist: https://dianedelgadolemaire.com/short-interview-preparation-checklist/

Current list of openings:

Spanish Speaking Staff Accountant – SW
Budget Analyst – SW
Senior JIB Accountant – NW Houston
Director of Compensation – Katy
Senior Financial Analyst – Galleria
Senior Property Accountant – Galleria
Senior Financial Reporting Specialist – North
Controller for small/midsize Company- CFO track – Humble
Senior Accounting Analyst – Special Projects – 3 to 4 years of public accounting – Southwest
Audit Manager – Public Accounting – Growing firm!!!!!
Rotational Audit Role – International Travel – Big 4 Background – Galleria
Senior Treasury Analyst – DT – Big 4 or Large Regional Firm background
Operational Auditor – Westchase
Senior Payroll Accountant – SW
Senior and Staff Investment Analyst – Investment banking experience
Senior Financial Analyst – North Houston
Reduced work week hours: Tax Manager or Supervisor or Senior – small public accounting firm
Consultant with professional services firm – Big 4 Auditors – Downtown
Senior Internal Auditor – Northwest
Financial Reporting Accountant – West & Downtown
Staff Internal Auditor – Galleria
Tax Staff Accountant – Galleria
Tax Senior Accountant – High Net Wealth
Staff Auditor – Public Accounting
Senior Auditor – Public Accounting
Senior Accountant – NW Houston
Senior Insurance Accountant – NW Houston
Staff Accountant – NW Houston
Property Accountant Senior
Audit Senior – 60% travel
Associate Manager / Manager – Professional Services Firm – Consulting on high profile projects – full time role – need at least 2.5 year of public accounting and maybe a splash of industry to qualify