Better than expected employment data is helping the Canadian dollar today, sending the loonie higher against its major counterparts. The surprise economic data is boosting Canadian dollar, and providing hope that economic weakness will not persist.
Canada added a surprising 50,700 jobs to the economy in February, more than double what some analysts were expecting. On top of that, according to Statistics Canada, industrial companies used 80.7 per cent of their production capacity during the fourth quarter of 2012.
The good news about the economy is helping the loonie, following some recent setbacks related to the fact that the Canadian economy is showing some signs of slowdown. The Canadian economy managed to weather the aftermath of the financial crisis quite well, and only recently began showing signs of economic weakness. The employment report has some hoping that things won’t get too bad in Canada.
For now, the loonie is higher against its major counterparts, gaining ground as the good news is compared to continued weakness in other economies, particularly those in Europe. Oil prices are slightly lower today, but that isn’t negatively affecting the loonie as yet.
At 13:25 GMT USD/CAD is down to 1.0281 from the open at 1.0283. EUR/CAD is down to 1.3361 from the open at 1.3366. GBP/CAD is down to 1.5297 from the open at 1.5347.
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