Canadian dollar steadies near three-week low after jobs gain

The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as domestic data showed jobs rising for a fifth month, with the currency holding near its weakest level in over three weeks that it hit earlier in the session.

The Canadian economy added 31,200 jobs in October, extending a string of gains since June, and the jobless rate slipped to 6.7 per cent, the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Statistics Canada indicated.

The number of jobs added was less than the consensus estimate of 50,000 but analysts were encouraged by some details in the data, including the number of full-time jobs created and an increase in hours worked.

The Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2456 to the greenback, or 80.28 U.S. cents, after hitting its weakest level since Oct. 12 at 1.2479.

For the week, the loonie was on track to decline 0.6 per cent, pressured by a pullback in oil prices.

The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, rebounded on Friday after OPEC+ producers rebuffed a U.S. call to raise supply to cool the market, sticking to plans for a gradual increase in output after cuts made in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

U.S. crude prices were up 1.1 per cent at $79.67 a barrel, while the U.S. dollar climbed to its highest level in more than one year against a basket of major currencies as U.S. data showed that U.S. job growth picked up in October.

Canadian government bond yields eased across a flatter curve. The 10-year was down 4.4 basis points at 1.610 per cent, after touching on Monday its highest level since May 2019 at 1.766 per cent.

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