TORONTO, July 8 (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar on Friday weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Friday after data showed the domestic economy unexpectedly shed 700 jobs and U.S. employment growth surged in June.
Shortly after the release of the data, the Canadian dollar hit its lowest level since June 28 at C$1.3082 to the greenback, or US76.44 cents.
It then trimmed losses to trade at C$1.3022, or US76.79 cents at 9:40 a.m. EDT, compared with Thursday’s official Bank of Canada close of C$1.3003, or US76.91 cents.
Read Also
Canada announces steel tariffs on some trade partners
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said Canada will introduce a tariff rate quota for countries with which it has free trade agreements, excluding the United States, to protect the domestic steel industry.
While the Canadian jobs report was weaker than expected, the move in the currency pair likely had more to do with the increase in U.S. hiring, economists said.
“I would say the Canadian number is neither here nor there,” said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
“It’s probably on balance slightly softer than expected but the U.S. number is considerably stronger than expected, and I think that would be the main weight on the Canadian dollar today.”
Canada lost 700 jobs when the market was expecting a 5,000 job increase, while the unemployment rate dipped as less people sought work, Statistics Canada said.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 287,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since last October, the U.S. Labor Department said.
May’s payroll count was revised down to only 11,000 from the previously reported 38,000.
The loonie was weaker against a string of other currencies too.
Canadian government bond prices were mostly higher across the maturity curve, though the two-year price slipped 1 Canadian cent to yield 0.471 percent.
The benchmark 10-year jumped C17 cents to yield 0.961 percent.
The Canada-U.S. two-year bond spread widened to -15.3 basis points, while the 10-year spread was -41.9 basis points.
