By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, August 5 (CNS Canada) The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart Friday morning, dragged down with unfavourable Canadian jobs data.
The Canadian labour market took the biggest monthly drop in almost 5 years, unexpectedly losing 31,200 net jobs in July, according to Statistics Canada. Full-time employment fell 71,400, while part-time employment made gains of 40,200 part-time jobs.
Economists expected a gain of 10,000 positions. The country’s unemployment rate inched 0.1 per cent higher to 6.9 per cent for July, matching market expectations.
In the US, hiring continued steady in July, as nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 255,000 last month, according to the US Labor Department, weighing on the loonie.
Economists had expected employers would add 179,000 jobs in July, and were also surprised by revisions showing US employers added 18,000 more jobs in May and June than previously estimated.
At 9:18 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7590 or US$=C$1.3175, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7679 or US$1=C$1.3022.
The TSX was up 89.95 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 9:18 CDT Friday morning to sit at 14,618.73.
