The Canadian dollar advanced against the safe-haven greenback on Friday as the market downplayed weak domestic employment numbers in favour of stronger-than-expected US jobs data that provided a further signal of recovery in Canada's biggest trading partner. Figures on Friday showed US employers added 227,000 jobs last month, outpacing estimates of 210,000 new jobs. It was the first time in a year that payrolls have grown by more than 200,000 for three straight months.
In Canada, the economy unexpectedly failed to create any new jobs in February, continuing a trend of stalled employment despite signs of a healthy domestic economy and a comeback by the US job market. The net job loss in February was 2,800 with the biggest drops in the retail and wholesale trade sectors.
"The Canadian dollar was responding to the generally better news out of the US and the healthy indications on North American growth and didn't respond much to Canada's own employment report," said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC. The Canadian dollar was a top performer among major currencies on Friday, rising as high as C$0.9872 versus the US dollar, or $1.0130, its strongest level in more than a week, following the release of the US employment number. Earlier in the session, it hit a low of C$0.9942 after the release of the Canadian data.
The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$0.9909 versus the US dollar, or $1.0092, up from Thursday's North American close of C$0.9911 to the US dollar, or $1.0090. It ended the week 0.2 percent softer. David Bradley, director of foreign exchange trading at Scotia Capital, said he expected the Canadian currency to stay within a range of C$0.9850 to C$1.0050 against the US dollar for the balance of the month.