Canada lost jobs but saw a drop in the unemployment rate. These confusing figures leave USD/CAD almost unchanged.
Apart from the numbers, there are bigger issues on the agenda today: Greek PSI and US Non-Farm Payrolls, which are very relevant to the Canadian economy.
The Canadian economy lost 2800 jobs in February. This is worse than last month’s gain of 2300 jobs, and significantly weaker than early expectations, that stood on a gain of over 14K jobs.
On the other hand, the unemployment rate surprisingly dropped from 7.6% to 7.4%. This is most likely due to part time jobs.
USD/CAD is above the 0.99 line it struggled with earlier, but still far from parity. 0.9830 provides deeper support. For more on the loonie, see the Canadian dollar forecast.
Canada’s strengths are rising oil prices and an improving US economy. The housing sector and now also employment weigh on the loonie.
Demand from the US is critical for the wider Canadian economy, outside the oil sector. The US is expected to gain around 200K jobs.
See how to trade the US Non-Farm Payrolls with EUR/USD.
