Home Daily Commentaries CAD shrugs off disappointing jobs report

CAD shrugs off disappointing jobs report

Daily Currency Update

CAD - Canadian DollarThanks to a broadly softening US dollar, demand for the Canadian dollar shot up this morning, shrugging off a jobs report that showed Canada lost jobs for a second straight month. USDCAD was down 0.28%, trading at 1.2073 at the time of writing. The economy lost 68,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rose to 8.2% from 8.1%, according to Statistics Canada. Economists had only estimated a loss of 25,000 jobs. The jobless rate was in line with expectations. Despite the back-to-back setback, economists predict a quick rebound as Ontario and Quebec, the country’s two most populous provinces, are expected to lift strict COVID-19 restrictions this month.

Key Movers

Demand for the pound climbed against the dollar after the weaker than expected US jobs data knocked USD down. GBPUSD was up 0.67% this morning, trading just below the 1.42 handle at 1.4197. Investors are closely monitoring the Delta variant cases in the UK and the upcoming end to lockdown on June 21st, which could provide more direction for the currency pair. The euro also gained against USD this morning, up 0.44% at 1.2179 at the time of writing. The Australian dollar gained 1.06%, climbing back over 0.77 to trade at 0.7738 at the time of writing. The US dollar fell sharply after a report on jobs growth in May missed analyst estimates. Before the report, the dollar held near a three-week high. The US Dollar Index was down 0.40% at 90.15 at the time of writing.

Expected Ranges

  • EUR/CAD: 1.466 - 1.471 ▲
  • GBP/CAD: 1.706 - 1.715 ▲
  • AUD/CAD: 0.926 - 0.934 ▲
  • USD/CAD: 1.207 - 1.213 ▼