By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 7 The Canadian dollar was down sharply against the US dollar Friday morning, undermined by disappointing Canadian employment data, analysts said.
Statistics Canada reported that 7,000 jobs were lost in Canada during the month of February, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 7 per cent. Expectations called for an increase of 15,000 jobs.
At 8:39 CST Friday the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9027 or US$=C$1.1078, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9098 or US$=C$1.0992.
Better than expected US employment data was also bearish for the Canadian dollar. The US government reported 175,000 new jobs were added to the economy in February, beating expectations of 150,000 new jobs.
However, better than expected Canadian trade data helped to limit the downside. StatsCan said Canada’s trade deficit with the world narrowed to C$177 million in January, from C$922 million in December.
The TSX was down 32.25 points, or 0.23%, at 8:39 CST Friday morning to sit at 14,271.92.
