Canada’s employment figures post a big surprise once again – this time a good surprise – 79,100 jobs were added in Canada, 5 times the early expectations.  USD/CAD reacted with a fall, including a small gap in the chart. The loonie stood out by not giving in the dollar’s strength.
79.1K new jobs is almost double last month’s losses. This excellent figure wasn’t expected. lso the unemployment rate fell to 8.5%. It was expected to remain at 8.6%.
USD/CAD traded at  1.0480 after the release. It traded at 1.0525 before the release, and dropped to 1.0510 after the release. A gap can be seen in the hourly chart. The close is weaker, at 1.0578, due to the dollar’s rally.
Last month’s employment numbers were a big disappointment: 43.3K jobs were lost, erasing all the surprising gains from the previous month, and more. Also the unemployment rate tumbled down two months ago to 8.4% and bounced back up to 8.6% last month.
Earlier this week, GDP for September, the last month of Q3, rose by 0.4%. This marks the end of recession also for Canada. On the other hand, early expectations were for a rise of 0.5%. Expectations for Canadian growth weren’t met again.
USD/CAD has been trading in a range throughout the week. The trade between 1.04 and 1.06 is “by the book†of technical analysis. The pair began the week by falling down to 1.04, and then gradually rising. In the hours before the release, the range was more narrow: 1.0520 to 1.0580.
USD/CAD held on to its gains after the American Non-Farm Payrolls that sent the dollar up across the board.
Further reading:Â 5 notes for trading the Non-Farm Payrolls.
