house price gains, new dwelling approvals and retail spending. The labour market has also remained healthy, with unemployment  ending the year at 5.8%. However, we are monitoring early indicators of potential weakness that may lead to an increase in the  unemployment rate in the year ahead, including low levels of advertised jobs and a decrease in full-time employment during  2013. The Australian dollar has steadily declined over the past three months, dropping by over 6.5% since last October, driven  largely by increased expectations of U.S. dollar outperformance as the U.S. economic outlook improves and the U.S. Federal  Reserve reduces monetary stimulus. Going forward, we believe recent lifts in consumer and business confidence will endure and  the lower Australian dollar will benefit many sectors through improved international competitiveness. When combined with low  interest rates, these factors should encourage business activity and provide an offset to slowing mining investment. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND USE OF NON-IFRS MEASURES Basis of Accounting  Use of Fair Value Accounting 16 BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT  Financial assets, financial contracts and other contractual arrangements that are treated as derivatives are recorded at fair value  in our financial statements and changes in their value are recorded in net income or other comprehensive income, depending on  their nature and business purpose (i.e., whether a security is held for trading, is available-for-sale, or whether a financial contract  qualifies for hedge accounting or not). The more significant and more common financial contracts and contractual arrangements  employed in our business that are fair valued include: interest rate contracts, foreign exchange contracts, and agreements for the  sale of electricity.  A significant amount of the carrying value of our infrastructure operations is recorded as intangible assets and reflect the fair  value of the regulatory rate base or other characteristics at acquisition. Intangible assets are carried at cost, subject to impairment  tests, and are amortized over their useful lives unless they are determined to have an indefinite life, in which case amortization  is not recorded. Our renewable energy facilities and certain of our infrastructure assets are classified as property, plant and equipment and we have  elected to record these assets at fair value using the revaluation method. Unlike investment properties, these assets are revalued  on an annual basis and changes in value are recorded as revaluation surplus within other comprehensive income and accumulated  within common equity. Depreciation is recorded on the revalued carrying values at the beginning of each year and recorded in net  income. If a revaluation results in the fair value declining below the depreciated cost of the asset, then an impairment is charged  to net income. Impairments of this nature may be subsequently reversed through increases in value. We also record a relatively  small amount of property, plant and equipment within our property operations using the revaluation method.  We classify the vast majority of our commercial property assets, including our office and retail property portfolios, as investment  properties. Investment properties are revalued on a quarterly basis and changes in value are recorded as fair value changes within  net income. Standing timber and agricultural assets are classified as sustainable resources and accounted for in a similar manner  as investment properties. Depreciation is not recorded on investment properties or sustainable resources that are fair valued. We account for a number of our assets at fair value including our commercial properties, renewable energy assets, and certain of  our infrastructure and financial assets. Property, plant and equipment and inventory included within our private equity operations  are recorded at amortized historic cost or the lower of cost and net realizable value. Public service concessions within our  infrastructure operations are considered intangible assets and are amortized over the life of the concession. Other intangible  assets and goodwill are recorded at amortized cost or cost. Equity accounted investments follow the same accounting principles  as our consolidated operations and accordingly, include amounts recorded at fair value and amounts recorded on another basis  depending on the nature of the underlying assets.  We are a Canadian corporation and, as such, we prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with International  Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. We are listed on the Toronto  Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Euronext and recognize that IFRS may not be the generally used accounting  methodology for all readers of this report. The following discussion contains a summary of two key features of IFRS that we  believe are particularly relevant to users of our financial statements. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2  to our consolidated financial statements, which also contains a summary of critical judgments and estimates.