The Canadian dollar is failing to rebound to kick off the trading week as the currency was stung by a disappointing October jobs report on Friday. The loonie was further hampered by slumping housing numbers. Is the Canadian economy at a standstill or is there room for growth?
According to Statistics Canada, the national economy lost 1,800 jobs in October, down from the 54,000 increase in jobs in September, which is the weakest performance since July. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.5%.
The market had penciled in a gain of 15,900 new jobs and a jobless rate of 5.5%.
Last month, the manufacturing industry shed 23,000 positions, with most of the losses occurring in Ontario. The construction sector erased 21,000 jobs. There were new jobs in public administration (20,000) and finance, insurance, and real estate (18,000).
The number of full-time jobs declined by 16,100 and the number of part-time jobs surged by 14,300 jobs. The 12-month average hourly wage rate rose to 4.4% in October, up from 4.3% in the previous month.
Statistics Canada additionally reported that the value of building permits slipped 6.5% to $8.3 billion in September, down from an upward revised jump of 5.6%. This is the steepest decrease since May, driven by a large slide in residential housing. The market had forecast a 2% drop.
On Thursday, the statistics agencyâs New Housing Price Index for September is anticipated to read a 0.1 gain. This would match Augustâs jump.
Will this finally encourage the Bank of Canada (BOC) to cut interest rates? During last monthâs policy meeting, BOC Governor Stephen Poloz left rates unchanged at 1.75%. Experts say that the central bank could move on rates if the domestic economy continues to be anemic, global growth slows, and consumer spending shows weakness.
The USD/CAD currency pair dipped 0.03% to 1.3224, from an opening of 1.3202, at 16:30 GMT on Monday. The EUR/CAD rose 0.11% to 1.4593, from an opening of 1.4578.
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