The Conference Board of Canada laid out a grim outlook for employment for this year and next last week, saying the Canadian economy fell "off a cliff" in the first three months of 2009. The Board is predicting that unemployment in Canada will steadily rise this year, and peak at 9.5 per cent in the middle of 2010. The March Statistics Canada 2009 numbers seem to support the Board`s forecast, confirming that the unemployment rate was up 0.3 percentage points to 8.0%, the highest rate in seven years. Certainly not a positive outlook on the future of hiring, and not what a recruitment leader or professional was hoping to hear!