A mixed jobs report for Canada: the country gained 12.1K jobs, better than expected, but the unemployment rate rose to 7.1%, worse than predicted.
The Canadian dollar is looking for a direction.
The jobs report is also confusing in terms of its composition: 61.9K full time jobs were lost while 74K part time jobs were gained. This is quite weird to say the least. The participation rate remained unchanged at 65.9%.
Canada was expected to report a gain of 10K jobs in September, up from 12K in August. The unemployment rate was predicted to drop from 7% to 6.9%, accompanied by a drop of the participation rate from 65.9% to 65.8%.
At the same time, US import prices were published and they beat with a small drop of 0.1% instead of 0.5% predicted.
USD/CAD traded at low ground: only 1.2935, after trading between 1.29 and 1.30 during the session.
The Canadian dollar finally begins benefiting from rising oil prices: the advance of WTI Crude towards $50 gave a boost to the loonie. In the not so distant past, the Canadian dollar would only react to falling oil prices.
Earlier this week, Canada reported a drop in building permits and a weak Ivey PMI. These releases were brushed off, especially as the USD dollar was sold off.
More: Weak CAD not a panacea for Canada – CIBC
