Canadian Dollar Falls on Weak Employment Data Amid Strong NFP

The  Canadian dollar today fell significantly against its US counterpart following the  release of  the  latest Canadian employment data, which missed expectations. The  USD/CAD currency pair was also boosted by  the  resurgent greenback, which was fueled by  the  upbeat US nonfarm payrolls report released at  the  same time.
The  USD/CAD currency pair today rallied from a  low of  1.3106 to  a  high of  1.3182 as  the  loonie ceded ground to  the  greenback.
The  release of  the  latest Canadian labour force survey for  August by  Statistics Canada is what triggered the  loonie’s fall. According to  the  report, Canadian employment fell by  52,000 as  opposed to  the  expected 5,000 new jobs, which paled in  comparison to  the  gains recorded in  the  past two months. The  unemployment rate also edged higher to  6.0% as compared to the  expected 5.9% print and  the  previous figure of  5.8%. However, full-time employment improved to  come in  at  40.4 versus the  expected 35. Average hourly earnings also missed expectations by  coming in  at  2.6% versus the  consensus estimate of  3.0%.
The  loonie’s decline was further accelerated by  the  US nonfarm payrolls report released by  the  Bureau of  Labor Statistics,   which came in  at  201,000 jobs versus the  expected 190,000 jobs. US average hourly earnings also surprised to  the  upside by  coming in  at  2.9% as  compared to  the  estimated 2.7% print. However, the  unemployment rate was higher than expected.
Given the  upcoming weekend, the  currency pair’s future performance is likely to  be affected by  geopolitical events such as  the  US-China trade war.
The  USD/CAD currency pair was trading at  1.3155 as  at  13:48 GMT having rallied from a  low of  1.3106. The  CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at  84.41 having risen from a  low of  83.87.

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