Good jobs report from Canada: the economy gained no less than 53.7K jobs in December, far above expectations. The unemployment rate rose to 6.9%, as expected, but this comes on top of an increase in the participation rate to 65.8%, and that is good news.
Also, the job gains come from full-time positions: +81.3K. Part-time jobs dropped by 27.6K. So, it is good news all around. Also, Canada’s trade balance beats with a surplus, much better than a deficit of 1.6 billion that was forecast.
USD/CAD is down under 1.32, trading at 1.3190.
The US gained 156K jobs, below estimations, but wages are up 2.9%. The US dollar is up, but not against the loonie.
Canada was expected to report no change in the number of people employed in the nation after a rise of 10.7K in November. The unemployment rate was predicted to tick up from 6.8% to 6.9%. The participation rate stood at 65.6% in November. In a separate report, Canada’s trade balance was projected to widen from 1.13 to 1.6 billion C$.
USD/CAD traded around 1.3250 ahead of the announcement. It is important to note that the US also released its jobs report, the Non-Farm Payrolls, at the same time.
The US dollar has been on the back foot after a strong start to the year. Here are three reasons for the greenback crash.
